When a Sorceress Hires
by BabemRoze
Summary: A cross over between FF8 and FF7. Messages have been sent as a threat toward Rinoa, so who does she call? Well lets just say a very lively Ninja SquallxRinoa and YuffiexVincent COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes**

As I said a crossover between ff7 and ff8. But as its set in Balamb Garden it goes over to the FF8 characters more.

I would say it was crap but my friend told me not to do that anymore, she said "let others judge your work not yourself" so I have no opinion whatsoever.

I would love some reviews and if you spot any mistakes I would love for you to point them out. I haven't played FF7 before (I know shocka!) so I get all of the info from my friend, so yeah, there's probs some mistakes.

Why did I choose to include FF7 if I haven't played it…one reason…I wanted to so blows raspberry XP

I know Yuffie and Vincent aren't an official couple but my friend wanted me to include them so how could I say no :P

Hope you like it!!

COMPLETE!!

* * *

Rinoa tapped her pencil on the desk. She couldn't sleep so all she could do was stare blankly at the computer screen, hoping to win her game of freecell. She lent back on her swivel chair and gazed into the bedroom. Squall slept soundly as if nothing could awaken him, 

_He needs his sleep, Cid's made him run errands non-stop…so is the life of a Commander, _she thought

She shook her head.

It had been almost a year and 3 months since the defeat of Ultimecia and she was glad everything had settled…well in her life anyway. She glanced at the clock 3:23am. She sighed unsure of the reason she was unable to sleep. Something tickled in the back of her mind. She spun a full circle on her chair. She saw the doorway to the bathroom, the kitchen, the TV, the front door and then back to the bedroom. She was amazed at the little apartment Garden provided for them. It was made especially for the Sorceress and Knight to live together so each felt safe and secure. Rinoa stayed staring at her love. She heard a soft whimper and looked down to see Angelo; her head resting on her mistress's lap.

"Can't sleep either, eh?" she whispered, stroking her collies head

The half-breed just looked back at Rinoa with worried eyes.

"You feel it too huh? What's d'you thinks gonna happen?"

Of course Rinoa heard no reply but just the pure fact Angelo was there to keep her company was good enough.

Rinoa patted her dog on the head and pointed to the bed next to the desk. Angelo immediately obeyed and lay silently in her basket. Rin moved back to her game, all was quiet except the humming of her computer and the slight breath from Squall's slumber. She closed her eyes slightly but was disturbed by a high pitched ringing that made her jump 20 feet in the air. The apartment phone was ringing loudly next to her. She grabbed it urgently hoping Squall wasn't disturbed.

"Hello?" she said in a hastened whisper

"_Hello Rinoa? It's Cid, sorry to disturb you so late but its very important is Squall there?"_

"That's ok Cid, I was awake anyway…and as for Squall…well…I'll wake him up but if I die I'm coming back to haunt you!" she joked

All she heard was Cid chuckle down the receiver.

"_You brave girl!"_

Rinoa shook her head. Slowly she walked into the bedroom. She crouched down and shook Squall slightly.

"Squall, Cid's on the phone, he needs to speak with you urgently,"

He started to stir and moaned grumpily. He took the phone from Rin.

"Hello?" he said in a mutter.

Rinoa sat at the edge of the bed making sure he didn't fall asleep again and also trying to catch the conversation.

"Of course…I'll be there in no more than 10 minutes"

He nodded slightly. Still half-asleep, he handed the phone back to Rinoa.

"He wants to talk to you again,"

Rin took the phone and left the bedroom

"Rin, here,"

"_I need you to come too; this involves both of you…"_

"What involves both of-?"

"_I'll tell you both when you get here, is he waking up?"_

Rinoa turned back to the bedroom, he was sitting with his arms resting on his legs, feet on the floor and his head held down.

"Slowly, but surely" she laughed "I'll make him some coffee…want one while I'm at it?"

"_Yes please, Black with two sugars,"_

"No problem, see you soon then," She flicked the button on the coffee machine

"_Hurry,"_

And with that he hung up, she walked back to the bedroom.

"He wants me to go too," Rinoa told Squall as she sat on the bed "He said it involves me..."

"You think its something to do with-?"

"Sorceresses? That's what I thought,"

"Well I wasn't thinking that until now," he pulled up his trousers and straightened his shirt

Rinoa walked to the coffee machine and poured three cups.

"I wouldn't worry too much, not until we know what's going on at least, but then you know how Cid overreacts,"

Squall didn't look too sure. He pulled his coat on and walked into the living room. He turned to the computer screen. Taking hold of the mouse he finished the card game in no more then five moves.

Rinoa handed him his cup and looked at the computer screen in awe.

"How did you do that? I was trying every move I knew for 10 minutes!"

"Simple procedure, plan your moves before your next step," he smirked

_Pure SeeD talk _Rinoa thought

Squall grabbed his Gunblade and went to pass Rinoa her Blast Edge.

"Why do I need that? We're only going to his office,"

"Just take it; no one knows what the future will bring,"

"I wish I never said that to you, you've used it against me ever since,"

He smiled as she equipped her weapon onto her arm.

Grabbing the two coffees left she took a sip of her own. She poked her tongue out as it was singed with the hot drink. As they reached the door she turned around.

"Angie!" she called and instantly her furry companion rose to her feet and bounded across the room.

The trio walked down the corridor. Looking around Rinoa felt eerie, the school was so dark compared to the light it saw everyday. She's always thought schools looked strange after dark. When she was in her private school in Deling she'd stay behind for dance lessons and would shudder every time she turned a corner. Luckily their apartment was on the same floor as Cid's office this way it was quicker to get to if Squall was called in for an emergency.

Rinoa looked out of the windows, the night was so dark and the only light she saw was of the newly built lighthouse of Balamb. It was built so when the garden took flight, if it was at night they wouldn't crash into anything.

Approaching Cid's office Rinoa felt the knot in her stomach tighten.

_What if this is something really awful, what if I need to leave the Garden and I need to leave Squall…not just Squall, Quistis, Zell, Selphie and Irvine…everyone I'm friends with here…for once I'm happy…I do miss Zone and Watts but I'm sure they're happy without my burden. _

Entering the office, the couple saw Cid and Quistis waiting there.

"Quistis what are you doing here?" She asked handing Cid his coffee

"Cid phoned and told me something came up and I needed to get here straight away,"

"He said that to me too," Everyone turned to see Zell at the door, "Why man, why?! I was having the best dream…there I was surrounded by 100 ruby dragons-!"

"No one care's Zell, everyone just wants to know why we're here," Squall interrupted

Zell dropped his hands and collapsed on the couch

"Ok, are Selphie and Irvine coming too, or can we get on with this?"

Cid raised his eyebrow at Zell but understood he was tired so didn't make much a fuss, instead he answered the question.

"Yes, they are coming they should be here soon, unfortunately I can't start before everyone's here…they're the only two left,"

"No we're here," Together the remaining couple walked in, Selphie was still in her pyjamas and yawning, her eyes blood shot as if she'd been crying. Rinoa guessed it was because of her disturbance in sleep.

"What gives? Sefie and I were sound asleep and now we're called here,"

"Yes, well I need to talk to you two about that, you shouldn't be in each others rooms, but we have more important things to discuss," Cid shook his head trying to gather his words.

Selphie and Irvine took a seat on the couch next to Zell, Quistis and Rinoa grabbed a chair whilst Squall positioned himself against the wall.

Whilst gathering his words, Cid grabbed a group of papers off of his desk. He looked at the front one and shook his head. He re-folded them and gripped tighter.

Finally he managed to speak,

"For the last 2 nights I've been getting…worrying faxes from an unknown source," He paused regaining his thoughts "But only half an hour ago I received one and I needed to tell you all,"

He fiddled with the papers in his hands and cautiously handed them to Rinoa.

She looked at the others and then down at the papers, slowly she unfolded them and gasped as she saw big red letters;

"DEATH TO THE SORCERESS!"

She handed it to Squall and then looked at the second one;

"LET HER ROT IN HELL!"

The knot in her stomach grew larger and she fought back any tears forming. With each new statement she could see Squall getting angrier and the others looking more worried.

Soon she got to the last one, the newest which caused Cid to finally tell them of these events.

"DON'T TRY TO PROTECT HER, SHE WILL PERISH. WE'RE COMING SOON, BUT NOT EVEN SEED CAN STOP US, RINOA HEARTILLY WILL DIE!!"

She closed her eyes and passed the paper along. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as the thought of more danger entered her mind.

"How can you not know who's doing this!" Squall yelled

"Squall…" Rinoa wanted him to calm down

"Xu and I tried to track the sender but both of our computers were spiked and were filled with viruses," He turned to Rinoa "I don't mean to worry you but I thought you should know,"

Rin nodded in understanding.

"So what're we gonna do?" Zell said with a tempered voice "Just wait like sitting ducks until these guys come?"

"No, in the morning I'm going to announce to the school that there is a chance that an enemy attack will draw near but don't worry, I won't tell them why, no one will know you're a sorceress,"

"But how do we know these aren't just some practical jokers?" Quistis asked "Possibly even Seifer and his lot trying to scare us,"

"Seifer's a fisherman now," Selphie spoke up dreamily "it would be hard to him to afford a telephone let alone a fax machine and with the hardware so protected I doubt it would be him,"

Everyone nodded.

"We should step up protection, maybe even send the garden into air, at least this way if these people don't have air mobility they can't get it," Squall commanded "Lets not let anyone from outside garden in and if we have to we send someone to escort them around to keep an eye on them,"

"Sounds good to me," Irvine said "and hey, maybe I can get mates from Galbadia Garden to come here as well, I'm sure they'd be more then happy to help,"

"But who knows how long they'd be here for," Quistis argued "It could be a waist of both our times and we have the new junior class men arriving so-"

She was cut off by the noise of the fax machine. Squall ran over and snatched the fax almost too quickly. He read it allowed,

"We're watching you now…planning.

Don't try to fight; don't try to run  
Coz by the end of the week

That Bitch is done!"

Quistis retracted her statement "Ok so maybe they'll come this week,"

"They're watching us!" Squall shouted

"Well then what are we gonna do? Hire a group of ninjas?!" Zell argued

A thought struck Rinoa…..

"Ninjas, eh?"


	2. Chapter 2

As they walked back to the apartment Rinoa could hear Squall mutter angrily to himself.

"Will you stop?" she said with a half-hearted laugh

"Can you blame me?" He stopped walking

She turned and gave him a small smile. He replied with stern face but the worry could be seen in his eyes.

"No," she laughed "I guess I can't," she tried her best to hide her own fear.

Squall walked slowly to where she stood. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.

"No matter what, I'll protect you,"

Rinoa didn't know how to respond. She wanted to comfort him and tell him he didn't need to worry but she also wanted to ask him for his protection. She reached her hands around his waist and buried her face into his chest.

"I know you will. But…try not to get too carried away,"

She felt a tug on her jeans. She looked down.

"I think Angelo needs to go…"

"I'll take her, just go inside and try to sleep,"

"I couldn't sleep before and now you expect me to sleep after seeing those messages?"

Squall shrugged.

"Well, up to you. I'm wide awake now so maybe if you stay up we'll do something fun…" he winked

Rinoa smiled bashfully

"You mean play triple triad?"

Squall turned red with embarrassment

"No…I meant-"

"I know…I'm not stupid"

Squall cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Right…well…be right back…come on girl,"

Rinoa smiled as him and Angelo walked away. She put the key in the door and turned on the light. She sighed…unsure of the emotions flooding through her; fear, sadness, anger but oddly a bit of excitement of another adventure. She slumped on the couch. She tutted her teeth in tune and slapped her hands on her knees. She scanned the room; she found herself doing this a lot. It was a habit she'd had since a young age; five to be exact. After her mother's death she decided to take in everything as much as she could so she'd never forget anything because she'd never knew if that was the last time she'd see it.

She went over to her computer and turned it off. Above the desk was a window. Peering out of the curtains she saw Squall and Angelo. He was sitting on a bench waiting for her to do the business. Rinoa laughed and closed the curtain.

He sure has changed…a year ago he wouldn't even go near her.

She rested her hand down on the desk, it met with the telephone. She picked it up and fingered the buttons slightly.

She finally decided to call the number she'd been thinking about since they left the office.

"Hello, Operator? I'd like to make a collect call to Wutai please,"

"Yes certainly, who do wish to call?"

Rinoa smiled,

"Yuffie…Yuffie Kisaragi,"

She waited a few moments.

"Sorry but there isn't a Yuffie Kisaragi located in Wutai and the only other one listed is in Midgar"

"Um,"

That's strange she thought "Ok I'll try that one,"

Again she waited, until she heard a ringing.

"Hello?"

"Hi…Yuffie?"

"Yeah…who's this?"

"Wow…has it really been that long you can't even tell who it is?"

"Um…Tifa?"

"NO! It's me…Rinoa!"

"OH MY GOD! Rinny-nee!" She squealed

"Man, haven't heard that in a while!" Rin laughed

"Wow…oh wows! I haven't spoken to you in two years!"

"I know…it's been too long!"

"So why for the sudden call….there must be something you need?"

"Heh! You still know me like the back of your hand…look…I need you to gather the best of the best and come to Balamb Garden…I have a little job for you…"

x x x

Rinoa lay with her head on Squall's bare chest. Once again he was fast asleep. She stared over to the bedroom door. There was nothing but darkness. She sighed heavily and held onto Squall a bit tighter. She lifted her eyes to the clock…6:38am. On any other day she'd be fast asleep and Squall's alarm would go off after 7 minutes. Slowly she leaned forward and turned it off. She knew it would annoy him but she thought it'd be better to let him sleep longer. She was now over tired. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't snooze off. She just leant on Squall's chest and appreciated his security. She felt his hand move up and down her arm.

"You're shaking," he said

"I guess I'm a little cold,"

He shifted so they were in a full embrace. She felt him yawn.

"Go back to sleep…I know you need it and don't worry I'm not going anywhere,"

"Have you slept at all?" he said stroking her bare arm.

"Hm…no. At least I don't think I have," She slowly felt her eyes drooping

"Maybe you should try," Squall started to stroke her back.

"I…have been…but…I..." her voice drifted and suddenly she was sleeping heavily.

x x x

Rinoa awoke with a minor headache.

_That'll teach me to stay up all night…next time I'm taking pills. _

She noticed she was alone in the bed. She spread out and stretched her muscles. The clock read midday. Pushing back the covers she got out of the bed. Wearing nothing but one of Squall's old shirts she walked into living room.

"Squall?" She called although she knew she'd get no reply "In his office I suppose,"

She walked back to the bedroom and opened the doors to the balcony. She breathed in the fresh spring air. Leaning on the bar she looked at all her surroundings. Everything seemed as any other day. Nothing had changed.

Rinoa blew a raspberry. As if anything was to happen on such a nice day. Or maybe she'd dreamt the whole thing? She decided to get dressed and make herself lunch. She made Squall a sandwich at the same time at went straight to his office which was right next to Cid's.

As she arrived she saw Xu typing away at the computer.

"Hey Xu,"

She looked up from her work with a smile.

"What's up?"

"Nothing really…your computer back to normal?"

"Yes, took me a while but everything's working…although I lost my work for the past month and I have to start over,"

"Bummer, Is Squall in his office?"

"Yeah, he's really distracted though…not that I blame him,"

Rinoa nodded. She walked toward the office door. She pushed it open and leaned in.

"Knock, knock,"

The brunette looked up and smiled.

"What brings you to the dullest place on earth?"

She held up the sandwich which was wrapped in tin foil.

"I couldn't tell if you'd eaten or not so I made you something,"

"Thanks,"

For a couple of minutes they just stared at each other. Rinoa was the first one to break the gaze.

"So...err…what were you working on?"

"Oh…um…" he hid the paper under his arm; Rin saw doodles he had tried to cover.

"Nothing really," He went into his drawer and pulled out a badge. "Here, you have to wear this; it was Cid's idea…anyone who hasn't got a student ID number needs to wear this, it shows your friends with the Garden,"

"Very clever," She looked to the one hanging off his belt "Why are you wearing one?"

"He also thought the faculty and staff should where them," he pinned it off to show her

"Squall Leonhart, Age 19, Commander," she read allowed

He nodded. She looked down to hers.

"Rinoa Heartilly, Age 18, Support," she read the last word again and again. "What's support?"

Squall eyed her curiously.

"Well, you're not a SeeD and you don't have a job here, so you give each department support and assistance whenever they need it,"

She nodded and pinned it to her trousers

"Although I was thinking, Mrs Kay retired yesterday and she always said I was just as good as her, if not better. So I was thinking, why don't I become the new counsellor?"

Squall thought for a moment

"You'd better give that badge back; I'd better change the occupation,"

Rinoa squealed and jumped on Squall's lap.

"Aren't you a bit over excited?" he asked slightly shocked

"No, I've been thinking about this for weeks!"

"Why haven't you said anything?"

Rinoa paused.

"I…have. Recently when I talk to you it feels like you're not listening. Now I know that's true," She looked away in embarrassment. She knew how much he hated these types of talks.

"I'm sorry; I think I've been over worked. I do try to listen but my minds somewhere else,"

"Its ok," She laughed "I think I'll make a good counsellor,"

"Me too,"

She gave him a peck on the lips and jumped off his lap.

"See you later; I have some business to take care of"

Squall raised an eyebrow. She blew him a kiss and squeaked cheekily. Leaving the office she walked over to Xu.

"I need a few of these ID badges, I have some friends popping in and I don't want to think they could get hurt. Also we'd need a couple of dorms,"

"Ok, how many of each?"

"Uh…I don't know…I'll have to get back to you, just think of…I dunno…9?" she tried counting everyone in her head. "If it changes I'll tell you,"

Xu nodded and typed it into the computer.

Rinoa waved and left.


	3. Chapter 3

A loud whirring noise could be heard from the apartment. Almost instinctively Rinoa ran onto the balcony. She saw a huge airship landing right outside Garden. Some students were yelling and preparing their weapons. Rinoa squinted her eyes slightly; she recognised that type of airship anywhere. No one else could build something so extravagant. She ran back inside the living room and slipped on her shoes. She could hear people running out in the hall and knew straight away Squall was already alerted. She knew she had to get there quick otherwise trouble could stir. Re-adjusting her shoes she called Angelo and ran to the elevator. It was already downstairs so she had to wait impatiently for it to come up again. Once inside she decided it wasn't quick enough. She tapped her foot infuriated. When the doors opened she ran to the front gate as quickly as she could. By the time she got outside nearly every cadet and SeeD was standing as if they were about to head into battle. Rinoa sighed and started to push herself towards where she knew Squall would be.

Reaching the front she saw him, Quistis, Selphie, Zell and Irvine looking sternly at the airship. The doors started to open and a platform was lowered. She heard everybody clip their weapons and move into a battle stance.

"Stop…Squall!" she tried to yell over the noise but he didn't hear.

She pushed past a couple more people and flew towards him. She grabbed hold of his arm. He turned hastily.

"Rinoa, quick…get inside," he said

"No…you don't under-"

"Do it! Quickly, who knows who these guys are?!"

"Squall…Listen-"

"Wow, great welcoming party!" Rinoa turned to the airship to see the bubbly ninja girl looking out towards the crowd. Squall's grip tightened on his gunblade. Rinoa suddenly over flew with emotion at seeing her old friend. She pushed Squall away and ran towards Yuffie and gave her a huge hug. Tears gathered in her eyes.

"I haven't seen you in ages!" She squeezed a bit tighter

Yuffie was almost in the same state,

"I've missed you so much!"

"Rinoa!" Rin looked behind Yuffie and saw a tall brunette headed girl

"Tifa!" She released her embrace on Yuffie and hugged her other friend "I didn't know you were coming too!"

"Well, you told me to bring the best of the best so I brought these guys," Yuffie answered

"And here I thought you'd just bring a group of ninjas,"

"Who needs ninja's when you've got us?" A deep male voice replied

"Barrett!" Rinoa hugged him like the others "Ouch, not so tight, you've been working out I see!"

"Rinoa, who are these guys?" Zell asked

Rinoa suddenly felt embarrassed as she realise nearly all of Balamb Garden had been watching.

"Oh!" She looked back and forth from her two groups of friends "Well, ya see these are old friends of mine and so I called them up to see if they could help on our…situation,"

"You've should've told us," Quistis said in a parental tone

"I know, I was going too but I didn't think they'd arrive so soon, I only called them this morning,"

"Well, with the Shiera we can get anywhere as quick as possible,"

"Cid," Rinoa let out small chuckle

"What ya think of this baby?"

"Gee lassie, I'd get off the subject unless you wanna be here all night," A small black and white cat said coming out of the ship

"Hey Cait Sith! And lemme guess Red's in there too,"

"Actually, I'm right here," She saw a large red cat trod down the platform.

"You know they don't allow pets in Garden," she joked

Cait Sith and Red XIII snorted.

"Who are you calling a pet?" Red replied

Rin smiled cheekily.

Soon a tall blonde caught her eye.

"Hi Cloud!" but this time her old friend just walked past not a sound or a motion to show he'd heard her.

Rinoa retracted slightly.

"Don't worry about him, he's just not himself," Tifa reassured her "Not since well…"

"Not since what?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Let's not worry about that now," Yuffie said chirpily, she turned back to the ship "Vincent! Will you hurry up?!"

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about Vincent! Hiya!" she waved excitedly

"Hi, Rin"

Rinoa smiled at all her friends.

"I missed you guys' loads!" She turned to the Garden to see everyone had departed except for her five best friends who stood watching curiously. Squall caught her attention more then any others as he looked angrier then any other emotion. She turned back to the others, "There's a grand ballroom on the 2nd floor, and there are lots of tables. Go in there and I'll meet you in a couple of minutes,"

They nodded and started heading there way. Rinoa reassured Cid that the Shiera would be in safe hands. Once they'd gone she walked to the others. She looked to her shoes unsure of what to say.

"They seem nice," Selphie said to break the silence

"Yeah, did anyone else see the size of that girls boobs!" Irvine joked, which was immediately responded with a whack from Selphie.

Rinoa laughed.

"Um…can you guys go and check they found the ballroom ok without any trouble. I need to talk to Squall,"

They nodded and left.

Squall stood silently, every other minute he'd gaze up to the Shiera. Rinoa bit her lip.

"You should've told me," he said at last "I thought…I thought they were the ones after you,"

"I know, I'm sorry but as I said I didn't think they'd be here so soon and we've barely seen each other all day,"

Squall nodded,

"I'll be keeping my eye on them,"

"There's no need to do that, they're my friends,"

"I know, but that blonde one, with the spiky hair, he seems familiar. I don't trust him,"

"Who…Cloud? Nah he's fine…he's a bit like the old you," she laughed

"Hm…still…I know I've seen him before,"

Rinoa shrugged.

"I'd better get back to them, who knows what Yuffie's getting herself into," she leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek.

"Again…I'm sorry," and then she ran into Garden, leaving Squall alone at the entrance.

x x x

"Here you go!" Xu said handing her the ID badges "you'll have to feel them in yourself because I don't know who they are, but you'll have to get Squall to sign them. The rooms are being made up as we speak," she handed her a group of key cards "Anything else?"

"Nope that's it, but err…just keep an eye on Squall please, I think he's mad at me for not telling him they were coming,"

Xu nodded and started to walk to the elevator.

"No problem, 2nd floor?"

Rinoa nodded.

x x x

"There you are! We thought you'd abandoned us!" Yuffie said

Rinoa shook her head happily.

"First things first I need to fill these out," she sat on the table and pulled out the first ID badge.

"Yuffie Kisaragi, Age 18, Guest," she started a pile

"Tifa Lockheart, 23, Guest

Barrett Wallace, 37, Guest

Cid Highwind, 35, Guest

Red XIII, 50, Guest

Cait Sith, 26, Guest

Cloud Strife, 23, Guest

Vincent Valentine-"

"Valentine?!" Zell started to snigger

Vincent looked to Zell and raised an eyebrow,

"Do you have a problem with that?" his deep voiced trembled the air

Zell shook his head and remained quiet. Rinoa laughed

"Anyway, Vincent Valentine, 29, Guest,"

She noticed there was one ID badge left but only 8 people. She fiddled with it slightly confused. _Whose missing_ she thought. Then it hit her.

"Oh, Aeris!" she looked around "Where's Aeris?"

Suddenly a tension built amongst the friends. A dark cloud circled ahead.

"She was killed," Cloud said bluntly "She was killed by Sephiroth,"

Rinoa opened her mouth widely. She covered it trying to hold back any tears.

"Holy Hyne," she took a deep breath "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's ok Rinny-nee, you didn't know, although we should've told you sooner,"

Rinoa lowered her head slightly. One of her friends had been killed and she didn't even know, she found herself whispering four small words,

"Dilly Dally, Shilly Shally,"

The others, (minus Cloud and Vincent) looked up and all together they smiled slightly,

"Dilly Dally, Shilly Shally,"

Rin gave them a small smile. She turned around and noticed only Zell was left of her Garden friends.

"Zell take these up to Squall and ask him to sign them, and give these to Xu and tell her I miscounted and we won't need that extra room,"

He nodded and left hastily avoiding any eye contact with Vincent.

"So, Rin, what brings us across the oceans to Balamb Garden?" Tifa asked

"Well, maybe I should start from the beginning. You see, after you guys left again Timber hit a bump in the road and we needed help from SeeD and then, well a lot of other things came up…"

She told them all about her adventure the previous year. How she'd met Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine and together they'd manage to defeat the evil sorceress and save the world from Time Compression. And although she didn't want to she knew had to tell them her biggest secret of all…

"And well one thing I didn't mention was that after Edea got rid of her powers they had to be passed on to another and because of my heritage they were passed onto me,"

"So you're the-" Red started

"Yes, I'm the new sorceress. But you can't tell anyone! After all I'm living in Garden the place built to train sorceress slayers! If they were to find out I'm sure I'd be toast!"

"It's ok your secrets safe with us!" Yuffie promised

Rinoa breathed a sigh of relief; if Yuffie said it then it meant something to her.

Zell came rushing back into the ballroom.

"He says…he won't sign them…for people he hasn't…met" he said between breaths

"What?! That man is so stubborn, why can't he just do what his told like a good little SeeD?"

"Because your 'rebelness' has rubbed off on me," Squall stood behind Zell with a raised eyebrow.

"Ergh, Everyone this is Squall, he's the commander here at Garden,"

"Hi there!" Yuffie chirped, everyone then said hello except Cloud who eyed Squall carefully

"Nice to meet you, but before I sign these passes I need to know how your going to help our situation,"

"We don't even know what the situation is," Barrett said gruffly

"I hadn't got there yet, I had to cover the background," Rinoa turned to her friends "You see…"

She started to explain about the messages and that's why the Garden was a bit cautious when they arrive.

"Scary," Tifa said thoughtfully

"Oooo, if I come across those guys they'll know about it! I go all ninjistu on them and they'll run around going 'ah, my spleen!'" Yuffie started to wave her arms about

"Yuffie calm down, your not going anywhere without me," Vincent said resting his hands on her shoulders "We'll definitely help; we'll do whatever it takes,"

"Yeah, maybe like patrol or something, or round the clock body guards!" Cid suggested

"Nah, what she needs is a furry companion apart from that darn dog, ain't that right lass," Cait Sith brought forward his ideas

"Look we can all sit down and talk about it tomorrow, its late and your dorms should be ready. The cafeterias on the 1st floor, you can get something to eat there," She turned to Squall who still didn't seem impressed "Can you sign their badges now please?"

"Whatever," He brought out a pen and signed them all "Here, Don't lose them coz you're not getting more,"

"Thank you Squally," Yuffie said pinning her badge to her shirt

Rinoa lowered her head to hide her giggles. Squall turned and followed Zell out the door.

"He's a bit of a stick in the mud isn't he," Cid said

"He's like Cloud's twin!" Yuffie giggled "Or maybe Vincent's!"

Rinoa saw Vincent bury his head in his cape to hide a smile. She noticed the way he'd react to all of Yuffie's comments and vice-versa. It reminded her slightly of how her and Squall started off, she came to the conclusion that Yuffie and Vincent were more than just friends. She laughed to herself at how lucky and alike she was with her best friend.

She handed out the dorm keys

"The dorms are on the first floor too, if you get lost there are directories located all around," she reached Yuffie and her voice dropped to a whisper "and unlucky for you, you can't share dorms with your boyfriend,"

Yuffie looked slightly confused but soon a smile spread across her face she moved her mouth to Rinoa's ear,

"_You_ still know me like the back of _your_ hand,"

They giggled to each other and Rinoa was reminded of when they were kids. She'd missed her so much but she was afraid of the conflict there could be between Squall and Cloud. Squall was hiding something, even if he didn't know it, but what ever it was she was going to find out.


	4. Chapter 4

"It's nice to see them all again," Rinoa said climbing into bed

"Hm," Squall murmured his head resting on the pillow

Rinoa leant down to him so they were cheek to cheek. Squall opened his eyes and looked at her from the side. Rinoa blew up her cheek then let out a huge raspberry. Squall groaned and pulled the covers higher around his face forcing Rinoa to retreat.

"Are you still mad at me for not telling you?" she asked angrily

Squall sat up and looked at her.

"I'm not mad, it's something else,"

"Cloud?"

"No, well partly but not just that either," Squall looked slightly embarrassed

"Then what is it?" Rinoa moved slightly closer

Squall turned away from her gaze and sighed. He remained quiet for a while. Rinoa knew how hard this must be for him as he still wasn't used to sharing his feelings. She waited patiently fiddling with the straps on her nighty.

"I was scared," Squall said at last, Rinoa looked at him hastily with doe-full eyes.

"…of what?" she asked shyly

"Not of, for…I was scared for you, scared of losing you," He still remained looking away from her. She smiled.

"I'm not going anywhere," She said wrapping her arms around his neck "If anything that's why I asked them to come, to make us feel a bit safer. I know you'll do anything to protect me but I also know you need help sometimes," she paused waiting for a reaction, when none came she carried on "You can't be everywhere at once, and neither can the others, they're all instructors or faculty now, so that's why I invited Yuffie and the others…so their main priority is to help me,"

Squall looked back; he lifted his arms and hugged Rinoa. He understood what she did and why but he still couldn't shake the uncertain feeling. Was it Cloud? Where did he know him from and why did his instinct tell him not to trust him?

Rinoa raised her eyebrows seeing if he'd say anything. Again silence. She sighed and released her grip. They both sat sitting up staring ahead of them.

"Everyone's allowed to be scared, even the commander of SeeD" She shook her head "Especially the commander of SeeD,"

Finally Squall nodded.

"I'll be the one to protect you,"

Rinoa laughed slightly,

"You're jealous!"

Squall looked at her with one eye,

"I just want to know your safe and who better to protect a sorceress then her knight,"

Rinoa laughed a little harder, she fell back and lied in the bed. Squall remained sitting.

"Yup, you're so jealous you're going green. You can't dare to think someone can protect me better then you can. I'm right aren't I?!"

"No, you're big-headed," He smiled tickling her.

She tried to grab his hands to stop him. She hated being tickled but loved Squall's playful side. Soon tears were streaming down her face with laughter.

"Please…stop…it's too…much," At that remark Squall leant down and kissed her passionately.

Slowly his lips moved down to her neck. His hands moved to the back of her nighty and he pulled down the zip. In no time at all the silky material was lying on the floor. Rinoa moved her hands to Squall's waste and soon his boxers joined her nighty. In just a couple of minutes they were a tangle of hot, sweaty bodies, discovering each other. Every movement sent Rinoa's heart beating wildly and for that period of time, there was no past, or future just present and the only two people in the world were her and Squall.

After what seemed like forever they fell into the bed panting. Rinoa moved over and leaned on Squall's chest. She leaned up and gave him a kiss which he happily returned. Nothing mattered in the world when they were together and all her worries would disappear. When they first shared the experience she laughed to herself, she could've never imagined Squall being so passionate and yet there he was. Reminiscing was also fun, except when the bad memories set in. She'd shake them away in an instance.

Suddenly without warning Squall had grabbed her again and climbed on top of her. She giggled slightly as his lips explored her body. Obviously to both of them, passion was something neither of them could get enough of. But just as they were about to reach their climax there was a knock at the front door,

"Rinny-nee!"

Squall dropped his head. Rinoa grew red with embarrassment. The knocks grew louder and more frequently.

"Any chance she'll go away if we ignore it?" Squall asked hopefully

"Not a chance, she's more stubborn then we are,"

Squall pulled himself off and lay on the bed catching his breath. Rinoa kissed him on the forehead and rose onto the floor. She grabbed a dressing gown and straightened her hair. She reached the bedroom doorframe and turned around.

"Might wanna cover up, she could see through the door," she laughed as she saw him grab the duvet and pretend he was asleep.

She straightened herself a bit more and opened the front door.

"Hey Yuffie-Chan, what's up?" she tried looking casual when really she wanted to get back to Squall

"Nothing, its only eleven so I thought I'd come see if you wanted to hang out for a bit," she seemed oblivious to the fact Rinoa was red and sweaty in the face

"Um…well we…I was…trying to sleep. It's been a long day and well I have to get up early in the morning to sort out my new office. Maybe you can help me, I need to re-decorate so you can help me paint. We'll hang out all day tomorrow ok?"

"But I'm bored now and the Garden 'policy' won't let me go to Vincent,"

"Since when did policy ever stop you from doing anything you wanted?"

"What, so I won't get in trouble if I go to him?" she asked cheerfully

"I doubt it, you're not a student here and its not like you can be demoted or anything, so go, go to Vincent,"

"Are you sure? I see Vincent everyday and I don't want you to feel second best and-"

"NO! Seriously Yuffie its fine, go and see him and we'll hang out tomorrow, meet me in the cafeteria at ten for brekkie then we'll go check out my office, o…k?" she felt like she was never going to get rid of her.

"Okay! As long as you're sure!" she chirped "See you tomorrow!" and with that she bounced off down the hall.

Quickly Rinoa closed the door and locked it. She ran into the bedroom, dropped the dressing gown and climbed next to Squall.

"Right, where were we?" she giggled

As she looked to Squall she heard him breathe softly but there was no answer. He had fallen asleep. Rinoa smiled and snuggled next to her knight and fell asleep with him in her arms.

x x x

Yuffie skipped down the hall and back into the dorms. She was glad she didn't need to worry about visiting Vincent but that didn't stop her from using her ninja skills. Stopping outside his dorm she pushed the door open. Luckily for her it wasn't locked.

The bed was small but luckily so was she. She climbed in and gripped Vincent tightly.

He stirred and turned his head.

"Hello," he said

Yuffie giggled.

"I can't sleep, too worried,"

"About Rinoa?" he asked turning around to hold her.

Yuffie nodded. She wasn't as worried as she made out to be but she loved forcing Vincent to show how much he cared as he'd only do it when called for.

"She'll be ok, that commander seems to know what he's doing," he assured her

"The commander? Well, if he knows what he's doing then why did Rinoa call me?" Yuffie suddenly felt antic "He doesn't know her like I do, he can't protect her like I can!"

"Didn't you listen to her story? If it wasn't for him she would've died," Vincent held Yuffie a bit tighter "It kind of reminds me of us,"

"We both saved each other," she said nuzzling her head in his chest "But you and I have a relationship, he's not even her boyfriend!"

"Are you sure about that, Yuffie? I think they are an item,"

"No, because she would've said and last time I checked she was going out with that other guy…Cider or Saffy or something,"

"But things could've changed in the last couple of years, have you seen this guy around?"

"No, but he could be away on a mission or something," Yuffie gave up "Well, I'm with her all day tomorrow so I'll find out then,"

"Just don't go prying, she must have a lot on her mind,"

"Do you think she's in much danger?"

"I don't know, you saw those messages. But please don't get carried away, I don't want you to get hurt,"

Yuffie leaned up and elbow his chest.

"I'm the great ninja Yuffie, as if _I _can get hurt!" She blushed slightly "And I know that if I did, you'd save me,"

Vincent couldn't hide his smile this time.

"I love your smile," Yuffie said giggling

"I love _you_," He mumbled almost too quietly, he started going a bit red.

Yuffie hugged him tighter then before.

"I have a present for you, I thought I'd bring it and I think it'll cheer you up," Vincent shuffled out from underneath her and grabbed his bag. Bringing out a box he handed into Yuffie.

As quick as she could she opened it. Three glowing balls of purple, yellow and blue glistened in her hand, light reflecting off her face.

"Materia!" she yelled

"I knew you'd like it," Vincent said sitting down

"Yup! It's so pretty!" She leaned up and kissed Vincent.

He cleared his throat, he wasn't used to being held or loved like this. He remembered how people thought there was too much of an age gap between them but Yuffie had threatened them so they kept quiet. Secretly they both wondered if they were still judged but chose not to care. Because as in any pure relationship it didn't matter as long as you were together.

x x x

Rinoa sat at a table in the cafeteria, Squall sat beside her. He was flicking through a few documents and sipping a coffee. He felt embarrassed about falling asleep the night before but luckily Rinoa just laughed about it. She flicked through her magazine and munched on a chocolate croissant.

"What time were you meeting Yuffie?" Squall asked

"Ten, she should be here soon," Rinoa replied not lifting her eyes from her mag.

Squall gathered his papers. He started to get up.

"Don't leave just because she's coming!" Rinoa moaned grabbing his hand, "This could be a good chance for you to meet her, after all when you go out with someone you also go out with their best friend," she laughed

"Ok I'll stay, but use your words carefully, how would Quistis and Selphie feel about you calling her your best friend. She may be but we only just found out she existed. They could get upset and feel like Yuffie's replacing them,"

Rinoa looked down, she hadn't thought of that she was just so exited about seeing her old friends.

"I'll be more careful, I'll even ask them if they wanted to help me and Yuff decorate,"

Yuffie and Vincent walked into the cafeteria.

"Told you they were more than friends," Vincent gloated

"That's no proof, loads of people eat breakfast together,"

They joined Rinoa and Squall.

"Morning!" Yuffie chirped

"Hey Yuff, you remember Squall,"

"Yup, you remember Vincent this time?"

Rinoa chuckled

"As if I could forget, take a seat guys,"

For a while they sat in silence. The only speech was Vincent asking Yuffie what she wanted to eat. When he returned there was nothing different except the sound of Yuffie eating.

"So, what colour are you painting your office?" she asked between mouthfuls

"I don't know, I want it to look cheerful yet smart. How about a nice blue or red?"

"Those colours are a bit over used aren't they?" Yuffie took a sip of her drink "You want something that stands out and could get the guys attention too!" this was her ninjary way of finding out if Squall really was Rinoa's boyfriend.

Rinoa laughed and saw Squall huff slightly.

"I wouldn't need to get boys attention I have a perfectly good one here," she said taking Squall's hand

"Who, the commander?" Yuffie wanted to pry further despite Vincent's objections "That's not your boyfriend you were going out with the other one,"

"Seifer?" Rinoa asked shyly

"Yeah, that's him you know the blonde one with ginger eyebrows, bah…he so dyed his hair,"

"Oh yeah definitely, I once walked in on him finishing the bottle. It was so funny when his roots came through he looked like a complete idiot," Rinoa reminisced

"Yeah, that's the one, and he had those two friends,"

"Fujin and Raijin. They were so funny," Rinoa smiled at the memories. Squall coughed angrily "But it was over with Seifer long ago, for the last year and a half I've been with Squall and I couldn't be happier,"

"Hm, I did wonder why you'd moved here," Yuffie suddenly laughed "I remember you had two other boyfriends whilst going out with Seifer-"  
"Yuffie!" Rinoa shouted

"One in Deling and one in Timber, or was it three boyfriends, Yeah, three you had one in Wutai too! You played them all for suck-"

"Yuffie, lets go check out my office," Quickly she grabbed Yuffie's hand and rushed her out of the cafeteria "You were just as bad!" she hissed.

Back at the table Squall blinked surprised. Half of him wanted to laugh at the thought of Rinoa cheating on Seifer but the other half was scared at the fact she used to play the field. He looked over to Vincent and they both sat awkwardly.

"Hi," He said quietly

Silence

"Hi,"

A small pause

"You…alright?"

"Yeah…you?"

Another pause

"I'm good,"

Quickly Squall grabbed his papers and headed for his office leaving Vincent sitting alone. He glanced over to Rinoa's mag and flicked through it.

"Ten ways to hydrate your skin" heread

_Hmmm… _He thought rubbing his cheek


	5. Chapter 5

Squall sat in his office. He read the messages over and over again.

_If only I knew who sent them_ he thought

He decided to clear his head and go monster hunting. He grabbed his gunblade, put on his gloves and left the office. He went inside the elevator but instead of pressing "Floor One" he pressed "Floor Two".

"Damn," he said allowed.

He _was _distracted. When the doors opened his legs took control. He ended up being taken to Rinoa's office. The door was slightly ajar. Peeking inside he saw Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie and Yuffie laughing and painting the walls. They were in the middle of a conversation.

"…the thing is, he's not as good as he lets on," Selphie said waving a paint brush "He makes the most stupidest face that I end up laughing and we never reached anything,"

"So you've never actually felt anything?" Yuffie asked

"No, he stops and starts complaining that I'm laughing. Honestly if you guys could see his face!"

"I think I'll have to pass on that one," Quistis said bluntly, she was covering the couch with plastic covers.

Squall saw Rinoa walk to the other side of the room; she was now in clear view. She was wearing blue dungarees with a white t-shirt underneath. Her long ebony hair was tied back.

"Ok, Rinny-nee your turn, what does Squall do?"

Squall raised an eyebrow. Rinoa set down a tin of red paint and leant on it.

"Umm…I don't really know," she bit the end of her paintbrush "I guess he just looks normal,"

"There has to be something that annoys you…like he eats while you do it or he pulls your hair," Selphie encouraged her to speak

"Ok, ew, who would want to eat whilst doing it?"

There was silence; the four girls looked at one another,

"Irvine," they said in unison and then started laughing.

"And nope, he's never pulled my hair,"

"So you just want us to believe he's perfect," Quistis said

Rinoa fiddled with the paint can trying to open it.

"I guess he is," Rinoa laughed turning as red as the paint.

"Ok, lemme ask you this, did you lose it to him?" Yuffie asked forwardly

Rinoa turned to her hastily.

"Yes! And before you think anything little Miss Sicko I did not do anything with Seifer Alamsy. Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl," she shuddered slightly.

Yuffie laughed.

"Mr Ginger-Pubes,"

This comment had everyone laughing. Even Squall let out a snigger.

"Anyway my point being, because you lost it to him then naturally he's the only one you've ever done it with so you have nothing to compare it too," Yuffie stated

"Well, I don't want to compare it to anyone else," Rinoa finally opened the paint can sending the lid flying "Ouch! I broke a nail,"

Yuffie snorted,

"You're such a girl,"

Rinoa opened her mouth in shock. Without warning she dipped the brush into the paint and flung it across the room at Yuffie.

"You bitch!" Yuffie yelled as she flicked paint back.

Rinoa sent some flying and instinctively Yuffie ducked causing the paint to go on Selphie. In a matter of seconds the three girls were in a paint war.

Squall could see Rinoa best of all and he smiled. She kept complaining about her hair but that didn't stop her from carrying on.

"I don't think this is sanitary," He heard Quistis say

The girls stopped and eyed each other. All together they dipped their brushes in the paint and flung it at Quistis who was attacked from every side. She wiped the paint away from her mouth,

"You guys are so dead!"

After another play fight they decided to stop. Rinoa looked at herself. Red paint was all over her.

"Guys, it looks like I've been stabbed," she laughed, she put the back of her hand to her forehead and slowly fell on the floor "Goodbye cruel world…I hardly knew ye!"

The others laughed and walked over to her.

"She was so kind to us," Quistis said trying to hold back the laughter

"What are we to do now?" Selphie asked almost in fits

"I know lets take advantage of her body!" Yuffie winked.

None of them could carry on, they were laughing too much. Rinoa whacked Yuffie with the paintbrush and sat up.

"I think we should paint properly now,"

They nodded and together they sensibly started to paint. Squall smiled and started to walk away; as he left he heard them start a new conversation.

"So Yuffie-Chan, what does Vincent do?"

x x x

Walking into the training centre he came across a pair of Grats. Not the type of monster he was looking for but it was something. He ran toward them and sliced them with his gunblade. They didn't last 2 minutes. He wanted something more challenging, something he needed to work on. He started looking for a T-Rexaur. Reaching the higher-level monster area he came across someone he'd rather not. Cloud had just defeated one and he didn't even look like he was sweating. Squall just tried to walk past him. He knew if he'd say something it would cause conflict and he couldn't do that do Rinoa.

"Are T-Rexaurs the strongest thing you have in here?" Cloud asked without any emotion

Squall turned.

"Yeah, this is only a training centre not a death wish. If you want something stronger then leave the Garden,"

"I think you want me to leave Garden with reasons other then training,"

"Maybe but what's it to you?" Squall stared directly at him

"Nothing, you mercenary's wouldn't understand,"

"Says who?" Squall's grip tightened on his weapon

"A former mercenary,"

Squall's eyes opened, he finally remembered where he'd seen him from. Those eyes.

"SOILDER! You used to work for SOILDER!"

"So you finally remembered. Yes, I was the one who fought you when you was just a cadet,"

"You humiliated me!"

"Was it my fault you couldn't take a hit?!"

Squall's temper rose. He thought back to when he had first met Cloud.

x x x

"_There isn't anything you can do!" _

"_Yes there is!" Squall was only fourteen years old, _

"_You're trying to hard, you SeeDs are all alike!"_

"_I'm not a SeeD yet but I will be one day and then I'll come and destroy you!" _

"_Being a mercenary isn't everything its cracked up to be; don't waste your life wishing to be one,"_

"_Stop messing with my head!" Squall ran toward him and slung his gunblade at Cloud _

_Using his Buster Sword Cloud dodged every attack _

"_You'll end up with nothing!"_

"_I don't have anything to lose! I'm not going to gain anything in the future, so what's the point?"_

"_That's pathetic; you have no expectations for yourself!" _

"_Shut up!" Squall lunged at him again. _

_Cloud pushed his attacks with his buster sword not even breaking a sweat. Squall fell to the floor; Cloud stabbed his Sword in the ground. He leant down so they were face to face. _

"_We will meet again, but next time, don't consider yourself so lucky. If you have nothing to fight for…then there's no point in fighting," Cloud stared directly into Squall's eyes. _

_Squall would never forget those eyes. The eyes of the man who had fused with Mako. The eyes of the man who had humiliated him and the eyes of the man who had messed with his head._

x x x

Squall gritted his teeth.

"Bastard," his memory had made him so angry. He'd cursed himself since that day. His weakness was unforgivable.

"So your finally a SeeD, are you going to keep to your word?"

Squall knew what he was going on about. He tried to stay calm, god he tried. But nothing could make him forget, nothing could calm his thoughts. Before he knew it he was running toward Cloud; gunblade high in the air.

He set off the trigger sending a bullet directly at him. It scraped past his cheek; scratching it slightly.

Cloud gripped his sword with both hands and swung it at his opponent. Squall leapt out of the way and jumped in the air. Powering up he spun around to perform a fated circle limit break. The energy blasted around him and threw Cloud against a wall.

"You've become stronger I see,"

"Yeah, because I have something to fight for!"

"Well then fight me like a real man! Get rid of your toy!" Cloud dropped his sword and started to walk over to Squall.

"Fine," Squall dropped his and ran over to Cloud arms up and ready.

Squall leapt at Cloud and punched him in the face. Cloud gripped Squall's hand and started to crush it in his fist. Squall automatically kicked Cloud in the stomach and used his free hand to grab his throat. Cloud let go and pulled Squall off of him. He twisted Squall's arms around his back and kicked him in the spine. Squall grunted and struggled to get out of the grip. Once he was free they rammed heads and were punching and kicking each other. Other SeeDs and students had gathered watching. Some thought they were training so cheered Squall on. Others knew it was a proper fight. One of the spectators was Xu. She gasped at the sight of the commander fighting with a guest. She ran from the training centre towards the elevator.

x x x

"I like this colour," Rinoa said munching on her sandwich "Although it definitely needs a second coat,"

"Definitely, this colour says casual yet smart," Selphie threw away her sweet wrapper "And it matches the furniture,"

The girls nodded proud of their days work. They were in deep conversation when Xu burst threw the door.

"Rinoa!" she was out of breath.

"Xu, Are you ok?"

Xu panted hard to gather her words.

"Squall…training centre…fight…with…your friend,"

"Cloud…he's having a fight with Cloud!" Rinoa shot up from her space on the floor and left the room, the other three following closely.

"They could kill each other," Yuffie stated

"Then we better get their quick!"

They ran down the hallway dripping paint as they went. When they reached the training centre they met Tifa at the door.

"What's going on?" She cried

"Squall and Cloud are fighting!"

Together the five girls pushed passed the mob of students that had gathered. They found Cloud and Squall in a ruckus on the floor. Rinoa and Tifa ran towards them.

"Squall, stop!" Rinoa cried but he didn't listen, he rose from the floor and went to kick Cloud who was also getting up.

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled.

Rinoa ran to the scene and grabbed Squall's waist. He stopped immediately. Tifa flew in front of Cloud to stop him from pursuing another attack.

Squall and Cloud stood staring at each other with pure hatred. Squall spat on the floor.

Headmaster Cid came storming through the crowd.

"You will stop this, you will stop this, this instant!" he was very angry.

As he approached, Rinoa let go of Squall and took a few steps back.

"Squall, this is not how a commander should behave!" he poked a finger at him "This man is our guest and the other students look to you for guidance!"

Squall turned his gaze to his superior.

"Apologise now!"

Squall felt sick. Aside from the fact he suffered a few blows to the stomach he couldn't bare to think of apologising to a man he hated.

"Whatever," he said and stormed out of the training centre.

Cid shouted his name but he refused to turn around.

Rinoa walked over to Cloud who she was equally angry with.

"What was that all about?!" she yelled

"Ask your boyfriend," and then he walked in the opposite direction to the exit.

Rinoa and Tifa exchanged worried glances.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ouch…not so rough,"

Dr. Kadowaki wasn't exactly being her gentle self.

"Not so rough? Not so rough?!" she huffed "I should be extra rough on you Mr Leonhart! Attacking a guest for no reason! Honestly,"

"I had a reason,"

"And that would be?"

Squall remained silent. He wasn't about to relive the past.

"Fine, don't tell me but you better tell Rinoa! How you could do that to her is beyond me, putting her in that position! She'll be right in the middle of this I hope you know!" She wrapped his arm in a bandage.

"I know,"

"Good! I hope you feel terrible about it and I hope she gives you an earful!"

"Knock, Knock," Zell came into the infirmary "Wow they weren't kidding!"

"About what?" Squall spat

"That you got in a scruff. Should a known seeing how everyone's talking about it. Man, you should see Rinoa!"

"Why what's she doing?" he looked slightly worried

"She doesn't know whether to laugh or cry so she's decided to attack nearly every living thing in the training centre. They had to get everyone out before she attacked them too,"

"Ha! You see what you've done!" Dr. Kadowaki interrupted "That poor girl," she cleared up her items and put them in the cupboard. "I don't know why she puts up with you. Always getting into trouble, you should grow up Squall and stop acting like a teenager! Every problem can't be solved with fists and if anything you've made it all a lot worse!"

"Well…err…she's just letting out her anger Doc, not doing anything else," Zell said slightly scared

"Yes…but imagine how she feels. Half of her friends would be on Squall's side and the other half on Mr Strife's. You know how Rinoa is she can't stand to upset people so now she's going to have to tell two different stories to people. One to you lot saying how she wished she'd never asked them all to come when naturally she's glad they did and another story to them saying how stupid Squall was and how he apologises even though he doesn't!"

"Damn right I don't,"

"Well as I said you'd better have a good enough reason," she shoved his t-shirt in his face "Now get out of here!"

Squall jumped off the bed and left the infirmary, Zell following closely. Squall put on his t-shirt and walked towards the training centre.

"Whoa, Squall, you going in there?" Zell asked hastily

"Looks like it, what is she fighting with?"

"Well…there's another reason we had to get everyone out. She was started to use her 'special' magic, she was so mad. Nothing could stop her,"

"Shit, ok I'll see you later,"

"Wait, before you do I need to tell you something about Rinoa,"

Squall stopped and faced Zell.

"You see, when her friends first arrived they went into the ballroom. I was there all the time except when I came to give the passes to you but there was one spare. She hadn't miscounted though. One of her friends should have been there but she wasn't,"

Squall raised an eyebrow.

"You see Rinoa's friend…Aeris I think her name was. Well she was killed and Rinoa didn't know. She didn't have a chance to grieve then and I think she hasn't had time at all. All this emotion she's letting out now is probably because of everything that's going on. The threats, the conflict and well…everything,"

"She didn't tell me;" Squall answered "I didn't know,"

"I thought as much but you know now. So if you go in there keep that in mind. She's lost someone she loved. So I think in a way she's scared that with you arguing with Cloud she'll lose someone else she cares for,"

Squall nodded. He never imagined Zell to be so wise. He patted him on the shoulder and went inside the training centre.

x x x

He found his gunblade on the ground where he left it and then went looking for Rinoa. He came across her walking toward a herd of T-Rexaurs.

"She's insane," He hissed

He hid behind a shrub watching her closely; he would have collapsed if he hadn't remembered the red stains on her clothes were from paint.

She surveyed her surroundings and watched for any spectators when she couldn't find any she released her full potential. She held onto her necklace and floated into the air. Her wings grew from her back. Their white feathery substance illuminated around her. She floated back down and shuffled her wings. She stroked them.

"Still not used to you,"

She shrugged.

Flying into the air she did a forward somersault. She threw her leg down into a kick and smacked the T-Rexaur right on the head. This angered it.

The rest of heard felt the tremor and started to rush towards Rinoa. Squall ran forward slashing his gunblade.

He managed to fight of a couple of them but they were strong. Rinoa turned to the herd. She lifted her arms up

"Hell's Revenge!" she yelled

Squall ducked and covered his head.

Rinoa's attack hit each T-Rexaur. One by one they fell to the floor. Rin landed on the ground and walked over to Squall who was still covering himself. She kicked the ground and a pebble flew to his head. He looked up. She stood there with her arms crossed.

"Is there a reason you chose to come in here?"

Squall stood up.

"I wanted to see if you were ok,"

"Hm, Shocking," she started to walk away. The edge of her wings scraped past Squall.

"Rinoa, what are you doing?"

"Oh I'm sorry. Am I meant to spontaneously attack you? Is that how you solve all your problems?"

She jumped into the sky and sat on a branch in a tree. Squall stood at the root; he found a couple of foot holes and started to climb it.

"I…didn't want to fight him…but…" he tried to talk as he climbed the tree "if you'd just let me explain,"

"Why bother, as if it would make a difference. It doesn't matter why you started it, it's the fact you did it,"

Squall slid down the tree. Rinoa tried to refrain from laughing. She jumped down and walked so close to him their noses were almost touching.

"You have no right to put me in that position,"

Squall became slightly mad. He was trying his best and she was shoving it back in his face.

"Well if you trusted my instinct then maybe we could have gone without this mess,"

"You're blaming me?!" She raised her voice "_I_ wasn't the one who attack one of _your_ friends!"

"You shouldn't have asked them to come here in the first place!"

"They're here to help me! To protect me!"

"I can protect you!"

"Will you forget your stupid pride?" She stormed away from him "Why am I not surprised? After a whole year and a half together you haven't changed at all!"

She retracted her wings and left the training centre.

Squall stood watching her. He hated it when they fought and that last statement made him think. Was he really the same, no, he wasn't. She was just being spiteful. He couldn't even bring himself to curse her or retaliate.

From where she left a white feather flew towards him. He grabbed it from the air. Sighing he left the training centre.

He searched for Rinoa but she'd disappeared completely.

x x x

Rinoa stormed to the apartment infuriated. She huffed and puffed and sat on the computer chair. Angelo was in her bed, when her mistress sat she rose and leaned her head and one paw on her legs.

Rinoa stroked her companions head.

"This is how it started, eh?"

Angelo replied with soft eyes. Rinoa went over to her toy box and grabbed a lead and a squeaky toy.

"Come on girl; let's go for a walk,"

Angelo sat staring at her and ran into the bedroom and stood at the door frame.

Rinoa looked down to her paint stained dungarees.

"You're right, I should change first,"

x x x

Walking through Balamb Town, Rinoa felt more relaxed. She sat in the docks and watched the ocean. Angelo lay next to her chewing on her toy. Rinoa sighed. Boredom took over.

Half of her was tempted to get the next train to Timber or Deling, anywhere that was away from Balamb.

"Hey…you ok?"

Rinoa looked to see Yuffie crouching down next to her. She nodded unsurely.

"None of us blame Squall for fighting with Cloud. We chose not to pick sides. We didn't want to put you in an awkward position so we decided to leave it between them,"

"Thanks," she dropped her head "I'm so embarrassed. He always causes trouble even if he doesn't mean to,"

Yuffie wasn't sure what to say.

"Wanna get some cookies and ice cream?" Rinoa nodded,

"And a balloon too?"

Yuffie gave her a thumbs up.

"Of course!"

"Just like old times, you'd always know how to cheer me up,"

Yuffie grinned.

"Just as long as you work things out with him then that's fine," she helped Rinoa off the floor "So we'll finish your office tomorrow, yeah?"

"I can't the junior class men are coming and I have to help organise them all,"

"Fun!" Yuffie said sarcastically "Well then how about afterwards we go to the cinema?"

Rinoa laughed.

"Definitely, wanna play with me and Angelo for a bit?"

"Out in the fields? Ok I'll race ya!"

"Huh?"

"1…2…3" Yuffie started running through the town

"Not fair!" Rinoa and Angelo raced after her

Rinoa couldn't help but smile as she played with her friend like they were little kids again.


	7. Chapter 7

Rinoa tried to sleep but couldn't. Usually Squall would be in bed by now and they'd be snuggling close.

_Maybe I was too harsh on him_ she thought regretfully.

She was so far on her side of the bed that any minute she could fall off. Usually she and Squall would be in the middle. Glancing at the clock it read 10:56pm. Exactly twenty-four hours ago her and Squall had been showing each other how much they loved each other.

_A lot can happen in a day_

She heard the front door go and she shut her eyes. She recognised Squall's clinking boots anywhere. She pretended to be asleep. She didn't want to talk to him, not yet. She heard him undress and felt the bed move. She tried to make it look like she was so fast asleep nothing could disturb her. She slowed her breathing and tried to stop her eyes from flickering. She felt him adjust his position and then to her surprise he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. He moved back to his side and started to sleep. Rinoa lifted her head and looked at him. It seemed he was already fast asleep. She just watched him quietly for a few minutes. She thought how amazing it was how when anyone slept even if it was the source of all evil, they would look so calm and carefree.

Her thoughts moved onto her mother and how she would hold her when she was upset. What would she say to make Rinoa feel better? What would her wise words be? How would she comfort her?

Rinoa tried to act it in her head but she couldn't remember her voice. The only way she could ever hear it was to listen to one of her songs. Apart from that Rinoa couldn't remember. She was too young to really remember her mother but she missed her so much. She thought many times about asking Ellone to send her back to the past so she could be with her mum but she thought of it unfair as Ellone didn't have any parents at all and she would be asking her to witness a mother-daughter relationship.

Thinking of Julia upset Rinoa too much sometimes. It always reminded her of something she'd lost. And now because of thinking of her mum she started thinking about Aeris.

Too many loses. Too much pain.

She felt it hard to breathe so she jumped out of bed and ran onto the balcony. Luckily she'd left the door open because of the heat. She leant on the cold metal bar and breathed deeply. Tears started streaming down her face and the thought of everything she'd lost. The fear of losing Squall made her sad as well. She wanted to run into his arms and say sorry but something stopped her. Fear. Fear of him turning her away and fear of another fight. She fell to her knees and started to hyperventilate. Her hands still on the metal bar she swung slightly. A cool breeze blew her hair to the side. She felt someone sit on the floor behind her. Squall put his arms around her wait and gently pulled her close. She released the bar and let him hold onto her. She buried her head in his neck as she cried softly. They said no words; they just sat next to each other. Rinoa leaned on Squall and faced the world outside. Their bedroom saw the ocean and cliffs. In the cliffs something caught her eye. It was a small crystal. As the beam from the lighthouse went around the crystal twinkled. She looked curiously at it as it wasn't there last time she'd looked.

Together Squall and Rinoa looked up to see a shooting star fly through the sky. They smiled and held each other closer.

x x x

"What exactly do I wear?" Rinoa asked flicking through her wardrobe

"It doesn't matter, it should be smart though, but not too smart," Squall was shaving in the bathroom "What did you wear last year?"

"Nothing…I was in Deling visiting Caraway," she still felt a bit of tension between them two. The bringing up of her dad reminded her of something important. She ran into the living room, in nothing but her underwear, and opened the coat cupboard.

"Yeah, I think you should definitely wear that," Squall joked coming out of the bathroom.

Rinoa turned and struck a pose. She flipped through the coats until she found a pale blue summer dress. She held it up next to her.

"Yup, this is the one," She ran into the bedroom and put it on.

x x x

"Attention! Quiet please!" The new cadets were paying no attention to their new headmaster; he tapped the microphone "I command you to be quiet!"

Unexpectedly a gun shot went off. Each student was immediately quiet.

"Yes, thank you Irvine,"

Irvine sat on his chair smirking to himself.

Rinoa giggled slightly. Her and Squall sat on the other side of Cid then the others. He stood on a platform ahead of the directory.

"Welcome to Balamb Garden, I am Headmaster Cid, all of you in this…err…room today are our new junior class men. Those of you who are very young will not become cadets until you pass a certain age. Of course I'm sure you're already aware of this. Although there are many different ages amongst you I do not want this to effect how much you treat other people and how much you feel you can achieve," He paused "I want you to look at the six people beside me. These are the heads of faculty and although you must show all members respect these are the six you must appreciate more then anyone. For these are the six, who saved the world from time compression and defeated the evil sorceress!"

A loud cheer filled the room. Rinoa smiled shyly. She hadn't expected that.

"From the end on my right we have Instructor Quistis Trepe, she specialises in battle strategy and monster history," Quistis gave a small wave. "Next to her Instructor Zell Dincht, he specialises in hand to hand combat," Zell jumped from his chair and waved his fists around, people cheered and hooted. "Next to him are instructors Selphie Tilmitt, who specialises in obstacle courses, and Irvine Kinneas, he specialises in target shooting," Selphie waved and Irvine stood up to take a bow.

"Yes, yes and on my left, closest to me is Commander Squall Leonhart, your superior. You must pay him the up most respect. If I am not present everything is under his control. He hands out the missions, so I'd get on the right side of him if I were you, who knows where he could send you," Cid chuckled to himself as the crowd cheered "And last but certainly not least Counsellor Rinoa Heartilly. If you have a problem and you feel like you can't talk to me or any of the others then see her in her office on the second floor and she'll do what she can. Unfortunately she's not quite ready for anyone yet as her office is being renovated. But she should be ready in a couple of days," Rinoa gave the crowd a little smile. "Ok, I've said what I need to but I'll say one thing more…the moment you all stepped in the front doors you made a promise. A promise that you will now serve those who need it. A promise to respect each other. A promise to look after each other. Balamb Garden is not just a school for mercenaries; it's a community. Maybe one day you'll have to fight together and you'll have to be strong. The life of a mercenary could be a tough one but with the right people beside you it could be as easy as you want it to be. Don't be afraid to make friends, don't be afraid to love and always remember we are one neighbourhood, one Garden and together we are one life,"

He nodded a gesture for Squall. He left the stand and headed for the elevator. Squall rose from his feet and took a space behind the mike.

"Well, Headmaster Cid has covered the basics and I would also like to say welcome on behalf of everyone. We are now going to split you into three groups. Each group will be lead around the school by two instructors and will be equipped with your dorm keys at the end of the tour. Over the next few days each group will be led to the training centre for a series of tests. These will determine your capability and strength. So in the first group being led by Instructors Trepe and Dincht…"

Rinoa waited patiently as Squall went through two groups. The ones remaining were for Squall and Rinoa to lead around. She sat holding a clip board with a list of names. Half of them she had trouble pronouncing in her head. When the third group was ready they set off on the tour. Rinoa stayed quiet and let Squall talk most. She kept going over the names in her head so she wouldn't embarrass herself. Soon they reached the dorms. The other two groups had been and gone.

"Ok, these are the dorms. Yours are located on the right hand side whereas on the left are the SeeD dorms. Although you are allowed to walk down the corridor there must be silence. Who knows what mission's they have just come back from? They could be wounded or ill. As SeeDs you'd need to have the best of sleep and health. So unless it's very important stay away from the left corridor all together. Now Counsellor Heartilly will hand out your dorm keys. But don't go anywhere as we still need to go through some things, Miss Heartilly," He gestured Rinoa forward and flicked through his to-do list.

She found it strange for him to call her by such a formal name but she knew why he did it. She started to go down her list and handed out the dorm keys.

When she reached the end everyone stood silent.

"Is there anyone I haven't called out?" She asked scanning the room

"Yes, you didn't call my name," A scruffy looking boy of 14/15 pushed his way to the front.

"Ok, what's your name?"

His voice deepened

"The Sorceress Slayer,"

Rinoa looked up from her clipboard

"Excuse me?"

Out of nowhere the boy punched her right in the stomach. She lost her breath with shock and dropped her clipboard. Squall turned from his activity when he heard the students scream. He noticed the boy retract his arm from Rinoa's stomach and coming out of his hand was a long thin spike oozing with blood. Rinoa had not just been punch, she had been stabbed.

She stood in a daze for a couple of seconds until her legs gave way. Squall caught her and looked to the strange boy.

"Someone get him!"

Coming out of nowhere Yuffie flew from the balcony above and kicked the boy in the stomach sending him through the air.

"I'm on it!"

Squall was unsure of what to do, part of him wanted to attack the boy who hurt her, where most of him wanted, nay needed to stay with Rinoa. He held the wound with his hand and she rested hers on top. She was struggling to breathe and her face was losing all colours.

"…Poison," she gasped

"What?" Squall looked confused,

"On the…blade…was poison," she struggled

Squall moved his blood soaked hand. Around the wound in her stomach was a trail of what looked like bruises but it started to spread around the rest of her body. The greens and browns were sickening to look at.

Yuffie leapt in the air and threw her shuriken at the slayer. He dodged out the way and threw some poisoned darts. She managed to grab each one and chucked them back stabbing him in the left arm. Then he ran towards her, the spike on his hand ready to stab. But Yuffie grabbed it and snapped it off. Her hand had been drenched with the poison and started to go numb. She couldn't use it as the poison was too strong.

"Do you think making me lose a hand will stop me from crushing you?!" she yelled

Grabbing her shuriken again she flung it aiming for the slayers waist. He did a somersault backward and without warning disappeared into a dark portal.

Yuffie fell to the floor. She'd let him get away and she wasn't going to forgive herself.

Squall heard a group of students cast Curagas and other spells but every single one missed. A couple of girls had run to get Dr. Kadowaki. Quistis, Selphie, Irvine and Zell had come running when they heard the commotion and on the other side Rinoa's friends from Midgar had arrived too. Squall remained holding onto Rinoa.

"I'm…sorry," Rinoa said "I didn't…want to…fight with you,"

"It was my fault and you know that," Squall tried to smile

"I…love you," Rinoa gripped his hand a bit tighter.

Squall wasn't sure how to respond. Of course he loved her but by saying it, it would seem he given up on her.

"I love you too, Rin. But you're not going anywhere,"

Rinoa shook her head. Her lips were now a pale blue and her eyes had lost all strength.

"Rinny-nee?" Yuffie tried walking toward her but Vincent held her back. Tears started streaming down her face.

Quistis and Selphie tried to hold them back but failed as the thought of reality kicked in. Irvine and Zell tried their best to comfort the girls but tears gradually started to streak down their faces too.

Rinoa gasped for air and held Squall's hand tighter. He held onto her as much as he could without knowing it would hurt her more. He kissed the top of her head. Rinoa's eyes started to feel heavy and she couldn't keep them open anymore. She only needed to rest for a little while, she told herself. But as soon as she closed her eyes Squall shook her awake.

"No, Rinoa, stay awake," She didn't like to see him look so panicky. He scanned the room for Dr. Kadowaki "Just stay awake,"

Rinoa tried her best but she felt so weak and tired. With the last of her strength she moved herself forward into Squall's embrace. He held onto her, scared of letting her go. Slowly Rinoa closed her eyes and as each second passed Squall could feel the grip on his hand become looser; until finally Rinoa had let go completely and taken one last breath.

Tifa had fallen to the floor and covered her face.

Cid, Barrett, Cait Sith and Red watched on, unsure of what to do.

Cloud looked away; this was too much of a deja vu and couldn't stand to watch.

Vincent had buried Yuffie's head inside his cape so she couldn't look. She was crying uncontrollably.

Quistis had fallen backward and leaned against the wall. She didn't want to cry but nothing could stop the bulk of sadness seeping through her eyes.

Zell stood with his mouth wide open. He punched the wall next to Quistis and cursed.

Selphie clung onto Irvine who was clinging back.

"R…Rinoa?" Squall shook her slightly "Rinoa!"

He gripped onto her lifeless body.

"Rinoa, wake up! For Hyne's sake, wake up!"

But nothing he could do would open her eyes. She lay in his arms like a rag doll, not moving unless he moved her. Not speaking and not breathing.

"Rinoa, please say something!"

And nearly everybody in that school witnessed something that day, which had never been seen before. Squall Leonhart, the commander of SeeD…was crying.


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone stood in silence watching the commander.

No one had ever seen him cry before and for those who knew him well it was hard to imagine.

Squall sat with his eyes closed, his head resting on that of Rinoa's. He didn't care who was watching, he didn't care about anything, and all he cared about, all he wanted was Rinoa. He wanted to hear her voice. He wanted to see her smile. He prayed so much that she'd wake up laughing pretending it was some kind of joke. But no matter how much he prayed, she didn't stir.

He heard people murmur and Dr. Kadowaki had arrived at last. She walked over to where Squall held Rinoa.

"Oh no," she gasped

She tried getting closer but Squall wanted let her touch her. In those few seconds he had reverted back into a child. Refusing to do the wise thing and only thinking of what he wanted.

"I'm sorry Squall," the doctor said

"I said I would protect her," he yelled angrily, he blamed himself "I said I would protect her!"

Kadowaki was unsure of what to say. She knew having all these people around wasn't helping his situation and without allowing her to move Rinoa she had to do something. She stood and walked over to the crowd of students.

"All of you will leave immediately! Those of you who are SeeD's block off anyone who's coming this way! As for the rest of you-"

She stopped as the room bathed in a heavenly light.

The beam had centred on Squall and Rinoa. Everyone had stopped in their tracks as the light illuminated around them. Squall looked up and gripped Rinoa tighter. Small firefly like orbs floated from the entrance. Everything that seemed good drifted from this strange glow.

From the opening a large orb, slightly bigger then materia slowly floated down. Its movement was entrancing and all anyone could do was watch. Slowly it landed onto Rinoa and absorbed into her skin.

Yuffie and the others looked on helplessly, when gradually a smile spread across Yuffie's face.

From the light a heavenly voice sang around the garden,

"Dilly Dally, Shilly Shally,"

The light lifted and everything was normal again.

There was nothing but silence. No one knew what had happened. Squall was looking around the room for an answer. His thoughts were disturbed when slowly but surely he felt the grip on his hand grow tighter.

"…Squall?"

He looked down to see Rinoa; her eyes open and body moving with the dance of breath.

"R…Rin?" He looked into her eyes.

She gave him a weak smile and lifted her hand to his face.

"Your cheeks are wet,"

"I thought I'd lost you," he hugged her unable to say anything else.

"You had…" She tried to sit up "But Aeris saved me,"

"Rinny-nee!" Yuffie ran over and hugged her friend "It _was_ Aeris wasn't it!"

Rinoa nodded, she felt so weak but she was happy.

Squall moved his hand away from her stomach. There was not even a drip of blood or a scar. Nor was there any blood on his hands. He sat in a daze. Everyone around him was silent, gazing on.

"Right, I think we should take her to the infirmary now, don't you Commander Leonhart?" Dr. Kadowaki smiled at Rinoa

Rinoa stood but her legs gave way so Squall carried her. He held her like a groom holds his bride. As soon as he turned around and the school saw she was alive there was roar of cheers. Quistis, Selphie, Irvine and Zell ran over and hugged her as best they could in her position.

"Rin!" they yelled unable to think of anything else.

Squall started to walk towards the crowd to get to the infirmary. The students split in half to let them pass. Rinoa felt embarrassed and shy but she didn't care.

When they reached the infirmary Squall set her down on a bed and held her hand. He stared at her for a while before dropping his head. Again tears streaked down his face but this time it was for happiness.

Rinoa managed to find the strength to lean forward and hold him.

"Promised I wasn't going anywhere," She whispered

For once Squall couldn't speak. He had never cried like this before, sometimes he wondered if he was even capable of doing so.

Rinoa was almost as shocked as he was. She could never of imagined Squall crying, and most certainly not like this. She sat with him for what felt like forever letting him know she was there. Letting him know she'll always be there. Letting him know she was alive.

x x x

"The water's cold!" Yuffie cried

Vincent let the water fall from the pump.

"You need to wash the poison off otherwise you'll never be able to use your hand again,"

Yuffie stuck her hand under the water and cringed. It was so cold and her hand was already numb.

"You shouldn't have grabbed the spike,"

"What did you want me to do? Let him stab me and end up like Rinoa?"

Vincent remained quiet. He passed Yuffie a towel.

She flexed her hand and stretched it.

"Do you think she's ok now?" she asked

"Well, Dr. Kadowaki said she's in perfect health,"

"No, I meant do you think she's safe from those slayers?"

"I don't know, we can only hope,"

"I'm gonna go visit her in the infirmary, see you later," she pecked him on the cheek and bounced off

x x x

"I didn't like it,"

"I don't think anyone liked it Yuff; it's kind of expected when someone dies,"

"Yeah, but I didn't like it more then anyone else! You can be sure of that!"

Rinoa lay on the bed smiling at her friend.

"So, where's Squall?" Yuffie asked looking around

"Dr. Kadowaki sent him away so I could sleep, not that I'm getting any,"

Yuffie giggled.

"Hehe, sorry,"

"That's fine, I wasn't tired anyway," She looked around for any eavesdroppers "Look Yuffie I need your help, can you keep a secret?"

"You know I can,"

Rinoa paused,

"When I was…dead I found out a couple of things about my attacker. He's part of a group that find sorceresses and kill them to harvest their power,"

"That sounds creepy,"

Rinoa nodded.

"You see, something I learnt from Edea was that a sorceress can never die peacefully unless she has passed her powers onto someone else. So these people would follow the sorceresses around until they died or they were killed so they could take their powers and use them to torture others. But somewhere down the road they lost all the powers. I think it was something to do with the sorceress war but I'm not sure. So what these people want to do is kill me so I'd pass my powers onto one of the women and they'd use a something called the Safrin crystal to split the power and pass it to the other girls in the group. And then there would be a whole other group of sorceresses and all the men of the group would be their knights. But these people are evil so they'd cause the world to become utter chaos,"

"That's bad…but wait, who did you pass your powers onto?"

"No one, I didn't have a chance to and I think that's why it was easier for me to return, it was like unfinished business or something,"

"So you're a ghost?"

Rinoa laughed,

"No, it's kind of hard to explain. But what I do know is, is that these people made a mistake by killing me. Next time they'll kidnap me and then try to kill me whilst in my presence. In a way it would've been easier if I'd stayed dead,"

"Don't say that Rinny-Nee!" Yuffie stood from her place on the bed "We all love you and we didn't want to lose someone else! We don't care what we'll have to do, we wanna help!"

Rinoa smiled and gestured for hug.

"Have you told Squall all this?"

"No, because you see I have a plan. You and I could go to their hide out and pretend that when I died I gave all of my powers to you. So they should start to attack you. And then you, being the world's greatest ninja, will fight them off until I warm up my power and hit them with Hells Judgment which leaves them VERY weakened, and before you panic I know how to target so you won't get hit. Then after that I'll hit them with Apocalypse and if my powers are as strong as they should be then they should all be toast,"

"Do you really think that'll work?"

"Well if we make it extra believable, then yes,"

"Why can't I tell anyone though?"

"Because they'll just try to stop us saying how it's idiotic or too dangerous. After you left with the others I felt like I couldn't do anything on my own. I became weak and vulnerable, I remember telling them all I couldn't fight by myself and that I needed them. But ever since Ultimecia was destroyed I've become stronger and braver and with you here as well I feel like there's nothing I can't do. I just want to prove to them all that I'm not a little child like I used to be and that I don't need around the clock attention,"

"Well, that's good enough for me. So when shall we leave? Do you know where their hideout is?"

"Yeah I know where it is, I saw it a couple of nights ago and we'll go tomorrow night, that'll give me some time to prove to Squall how much I feel better and for him to stop worrying so much,"

Yuffie nodded.

Together they started to plan their journey and what they would say to make it all believable.

"There's never a dull moment with you Rinny-nee,"

"Back at ya; as we say…it's us against the World,"


	9. Chapter 9

"You can put me down now,"

"What if I don't want to?" Squall gave Rinoa a small smile

"Well you're going to have to, to open the door," Rinoa returned his smile with an even bigger one.

Defeated Squall set Rinoa on the ground outside there apartment. She stood next to him.

"See, I told you I didn't need to be carried, I can stand on my own two feet,"

She smiled and spun around in a circle, finishing with precise accuracy.

"Take it easy," He grabbed her by the wrist. Rinoa gave him a small smile

"Squall…" she took his hand and guided it to her chest "I'm fine, see? Heartbeat, breathing, it's as if nothing happened,"

"But something did happen!" He removed his hand and beckoned her inside the apartment. He closed the door and turned to where she stood. "Rinoa, it's like you don't understand. You died and all I could do was watch. I could only sit there, holding you until…until you became like a lifeless doll. In that instance I felt so alone and scared. I literally wanted to grab my gunblade and stab it through my che-"

"Squall!" Rinoa grabbed his arms quickly "Please, don't say anything else. I can't stand the thought of causing you so much pain," she buried her head in his chest, as tears streaked down her face "I'm sorry…I always do this to you. I'm so, so sorry, Squall, please forgive me,"

"Rinoa…" he whispered as he held onto her tightly, "I don't care about anything but you. I would face a thousand Omega Weapons if it was just to make you happy. You may think you always cause me grief, but that's not true. What you give me is so much more. Rinoa Heartilly, I can honestly say I have never felt so happy then when you are by my side,"

Hearing this made Rinoa cry even more, she buried her head deeper into Squall's chest, if it were physically possible, and they stood for what felt like forever in each others embrace. Lifting her head so she looked at him Squall peered into Rinoa's swollen eyes. Bending down softly he gave her a tender kiss. It was light in touch and in Rinoa's eyes, perfect. When they parted, she turned her head in deep thought.

_Should I tell him? He only wants to protect me. No! If I tell him he'll come and could end up getting hurt! I won't do that to him!_

"You okay?" Squall was almost unheard over her thoughts.

She turned to him with a look the same as a child caught doing something bad. She looked away quickly and bit her bottom lip. She released her self from his embrace and walked over to the small kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge; leaving a very confused Squall near the door.

"What's going on?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously

"Nothing, just getting myself a drink," she shook the bottle "Uh, want one?"

"No…I'm…fine," he stayed looking at her trying to find some answer "You're up to something"

_Crap, why am I so bad at lying! _

"No…" she shook her head and took another swig

"Yes…yes, you are. I can always tell Little Miss, so you better tell me another wise I'll have to do some interrogations," he crossed his arms, and started walking toward her.

She moved her weight to one side and placed a hand on her hip.

"Oh, I doubt it will be that bad. I'm sure I can get through any _'punishment'_ you throw at me,"

He wrapped his arm around her waist and put there foreheads together.

"Who said anything about punishment? I have other ways to make you talk,"

She giggled and in one swift movement poured the remaining contents of her drink over his head causing him to back away wiping his face.

"Shame, Doctors orders: 'refrain from tiring activates'," With that she pecked him on the cheek and walked over to the bedroom door. She turned around giggling at the sight of him with a towel over his face, "but, Squall, really, I'm ok,"

He threw the towel onto the counter and crossed his arms.

"Not for long," and then without warning he chased her into the bedroom.

X X X

_So much for 'no tiring activates' _Rinoa laughed to herself as she curled up next to a sleeping Squall. _Well, at least now he'll believe me when I say I'm alright, he basically searched every inch of me just now. _

She snorted loudly as the thought entered her brain. She covered her mouth in her best attempt to muffle the noise, but unfortunately it came up short. Squall stirred and awoke with a gasp. Rinoa stroked his chest still trying to hold back any strange thoughts.

"Its okay, I just sneezed that's all,"

"Where's the pig?" Squall asked in his half-asleep mode

"…the pig?"

"Yeah, it was laughing at the donkey…"

Rinoa giggled to herself, it was the first time she'd seen Squall so out-of-it. She was going to use it to her best advantage.

"Well, you see. The pig went to join the rooster who was having tea with the President, oh and Cid was there too, and of course he wore his best tutu-"

"Yeah, of course,"

"And oh yeah, the donkey wanted to know why Zell refused to go out with him, so in the end he decided to go out with Irvine,"

"….Selphie?"

"She's got together with the farmer,"

"Hmm, good…but why was the pig laughing…?"

"Well, uh?" she peered over and saw he had now completely fallen asleep.

Moving out from under his arm she slowly, crept away from the room and walked over to the telephone. Dialling in the number she only had to wait a few moments before there was an answer.

"Hey…yeah, he knows I'm ok now….of course it's still happening tomorrow, it's now or never…no, Yuffie, you made a promise you wouldn't tell anyone…yes Vincent does count! Look, after Squall leaves for the office in the morning I'll ring you and we'll leave…we're going to use one of your hover bikes I saw in Cid's ship…I'm sorry about that but if you're gonna be sick then make sure its not gonna be over me…once we defeat them everything will be back to normal…no, Yuffie I've told you why I'm not telling Squall….its because he's done too much already. I'm not making him do anymore…I don't care, really…yes, fine I'll admit it, I am trying to protect him but if I tell him he won't hear anything of it…well, look, we need our sleep if we're gonna do this so I'll see you tomorrow…yeah, bye,"

Sighing she put the phone back in the cradle.

"…_well, look, we need our sleep if we're gonna do this so I'll see you tomorrow…yeah, bye," _

Squall had awoken properly, as soon as Rinoa had left his arms. Gathering his bearings he went to follow her out of the room only to be found eavesdropping at the door. Each word she said put him in utter confusion. Hearing her put the phone down he rushed back into the bed, his eyes closed. He felt the bed shift as she crawled back in. At first she slept close to him but then turned over. He grabbed her around the waist and buried his head in the back of her neck,

"I love you," he whispered

The words made Rinoa tickle; she turned her head slightly to look at him.

"I love you too," she replied softly.

And once again the couple found themselves in the world of slumber.

X X X

Rinoa awoke around noon. This threw her totally off-guard as usually Squall's alarm would have woken her up. Looking behind she was also caught off-guard to see that he was still asleep in bed.

"Squall," she shook him slightly "Squall, you're late for work,"

He opened one eye and looked at her.

"Cid gave me today off; he said he knows how troubling it can be thinking your sorceress is in trouble,"

Rinoa's heart stopped.

_Crap, what am I gonna do? _

"Don't worry about anything, I'll be by your side all day," he said resting his chin on her shoulder.

_Double crap_

"I must be the luckiest girl in the world," she forced a giggle

"Well, yeah, you should have known that the moment you met me,"

Rinoa rolled her eyes. She sunk lower into her pillow.

"You weren't planning on doing anything today were you?" he asked, smirking

"N-No, not at all. Lounging around the apartment really, although I need to go food shopping later so you can be by yourself,"

"That's all right; I'll come with you,"

"You don't have to do that; I know you hate shopping,"

"No, really its ok, you'll need help carrying the bags,"

"No, I insist, stay home and I'll get Yuffie to help me with the bags,"

"No, that's not fair on her,"

"Its really sweet but I think you should stay home and relax a bit,"

"I relax enough when I sleep; I want to spend the day with you,"

"But you don't have to,"

"But I want to,"

"But there's no need to,"

"For Hyne's sake Rinoa, what aren't you telling me?!"

"There's nothing, honestly," She started to get up from the bed but he grabbed her wrist forcing her to sit down

"I heard your conversation with Yuffie last night; I know your planning something…to 'defeat' someone,"

_Triple crap! ...lie, lie, quick think of a lie!!_

"Well…" She stuttered a bit "Ok…I really didn't want to tell you…but me and Yuffie have entered the Triple Triad tournament, so we were gonna hang out today and practise. We were going to go and see if the Queen of Cards was in town, we were hoping she could give us some pointers…because well, we think we'd need them,"

"So…when you said about 'defeating someone'…" Squall started

"We were talking about the Card Club,"

"Then what about the whole 'wanting to protect me'?"

"From the embarrassment, you have to admit I suck when it comes to Triple Triad,"

Squall let out a small snort,

"That's true…ok, ok then what about the hover bikes?"

"I thought we could use them to look for the Queen, Bird's eye view and everything,"

Squall shock his head,

"I'm sorry, I should have trusted you, and it's just…"

"I know…you only want to look after me," She hugged him; burying her head in his neck "…and I wouldn't have it any other way," regretfully she pulled away and stood up "I better start getting ready, me and Yuffie really need to practice,"

"Yeah, _you_ could sure use it,"

Quickly Rinoa grabbed a pillow and hit him with it, poking out her tongue she walked out of the room and into the bathroom.

_I'm so going to hell for this. Why does this all have to be so awkward? But no, we have a plan, defeat the "clan" and then hopefully no one will ever have to worry. I feel so horrible, Squall trusts me and now I'm going to throw it back in his face. Oh Hyne please let this go as smoothly as planned, but if it doesn't please look after Squall and the others._

Squall sat on the bed.

_Triple Triad my ass. She'd never enter that competition, just last week she told me how she hated playing anyone but me; only because I let her win sometimes. I'll just have to follow her, maybe that Vincent guy can help, if Yuffie's involved then obviously he'd help me. So its settled, talk to Vincent, follow Yuffie and Rinoa and find out what they're up to.  
_

* * *

_A/N: Sorry to any readers for the slow update. I promise i'll start updating quicker. I'm also writing a KH fanfic but i won't upload that one until i finished it coz i know how annoying it can be waiting for the ending of a story. Please review this story because they'd really help keep me motivated. If i knew my work was wanted i'd update in the blink of an eye. So let me know...ok, peace out and all that jazz thinks i love that song... _


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Thank you **Iris the Goddess of Rainbow** for being the first to review my fanfic. That one simple review motivated me to do another chapter...so people they're not for making my head bigger they're for making me motivated. Please if you enjoy this story and would like to see more please review and i will continue...at first it was just for fun but now i want to know whether or not people like it. _

_And just for **Iris** i've added in a bit more Yuffentine to say thanks. _

* * *

"I don't think it's wise to be going outside Garden with Rinoa so shortly after her attack," Vincent watched as Yuffie looked for her shoes

"She'll be fine…we're just going to the cinema…found it!" the bubbly ninja held up a stealth shoe

Vincent raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going to see?"

"Umm…Death of a Door Mouse…yeah I know it's sad but oh well,"

"Yeah that's something she wants to see," Vincent replied sarcastically his red eyes watching her every move

"Well it was her favourite book as a teen…which is kind of worrying but oh well,"

"Hmm…well I guess I'll be here by myself," Vincent stood and put both hands around Yuffie's waste lifting her up like a princess "…but oh well"

Yuffie giggled and kissed him quickly on the lips not letting it register in his mind as she dropped herself down.

Picking up her bag she did a double check in her mind but just as she was about to leave Vincent grabbed her wrist.

"Why do I feel like you're up to something?"

Yuffie shrugged and gave him her best innocent face not answering.

"It's just…your wearing your stealth shoes,"

"Its so if I need the toilet in the cinema I won't make any noise,"

"Well that's a load of bull; you know you wouldn't be heard even if you were walking on broken glass,"

"Awww, is Vinnie worried about me?" Yuffie grinned from ear-to-ear

Vincent turned abruptly and walked over to the bed.

"I always worry about you," he mumbled almost too quietly

Soon he heard the patter of feet and Yuffie jumping onto him from behind. Her arms circled his neck and her legs around his waist.

"I worry about you too…although I shouldn't really have to,"

She heard a small snort.

"Well, look after yourself anyway,"

"I will!" Yuffie squeezed tighter and could feel his head being pulled back

"Yuffie…" he was struggling for breath "please…get…off me!"

Yuffie gasped

"You think I'm fat!!"

"No…it's just…you're pulling my hair!"

Yuffie jumped off and turned around still playing her game. She brought on fake tears.

"NO…YOU THINK I'M TOO FAT TO BE CARRIED!"

"Yuffie…you know I don't think you're fat, you're perfect"

Yuffie smirked evilly and turned around turning it into a wide grin.

"Good!" she said cheerfully "glad you think so, now if you don't let me go I'll be late and miss the movie"

"Alright then, but don't be too long…there's not much activity without you around," his voice gave off a seductive edge

Yuffie giggled like a school girl and hid her face in embarrassment. To her shock she felt Vincent pull her close and kiss her deeply. They stood for ages as one.

"Oh dear…I'm not disturbing anything am I?"

They pulled away quickly and turned to the door seeing Rinoa leaning against the frame; a cheeky grin across her face.

"Um…nothing really," Yuffie bit her lip when she saw Vincent facing the wall

"Well come on we have to go if we're going to find the Queen of Cards," Rinoa winked

"Queen of Cards?" Vincent turned from his position and turned to face Rinoa "I thought you were going to the cinema,"

"Uh…we are…to see…Lullaby of Sin," Rinoa tried her best to play along

"I thought we were going to see Death of a Door Mouse," Yuffie widened her eyes trying to send her friend the hidden message beneath them

"Oh…well I thought that would be a bit too depressing in my current state of mind, Lullaby of Sin is just…scarily funny,"

"So what's the Queen of Cards got to do with it?" Vincent crossed his arms

"Uhhhhh…." Yuffie started

"Umm…" Rinoa looked down to her watch "Oh dear look at the time we're going to miss the trailers and you all know I love watching the hot dog dance with pretzel. And that cute little chicobo dressed as an usher….so kawaii!"

"Yeah! Exactly…come on Rinny-Nee!"

Quickly grabbing her hand Yuffie pulled Rinoa out of the room and with a few words of farewell they left a confused Vincent standing alone.

Shaking his head he sat on the bed and picked up a 'Weapons Monthly' magazine. Flicking through it he couldn't keep the nagging feeling that something was amiss. Making him jump slightly but not letting it show his heart flew into his throat as Squall arrived at the door panting and pushing it open with a bang.

"Have they left yet?" he said between breaths

"Yeah about five minutes ago, they were going to miss the movie otherwise,"

"Movie? They were going to find the Queen of Cards to get tips for the tournament"

For a few seconds there was nothing but the sound of the clock ticking.

"I knew they were up to something!" they cried in unison

"What's going on?!" Squall slowly moved his hand to his gunblade as an automatic reaction

"Don't ask me I'm as clueless as you are,"

"Wait…I know where they're heading…follow me!" Running out of the room Squall didn't stop for the other man's reaction.

Gathering his bearings Vincent quickly threw open a gun case and pulled out three weapons, Cerberus, Griffon and Hydra. Then as he ran down the hallway it took no time at all to catch up with Squall.

"Where're we heading?!" he yelled hoping to get a straight answer

"Cid's ship, last night I over heard Rinoa on the phone to Yuffie and well…"

He told him all about what he'd heard the night before and how Rinoa defended each case he thrust at her.

X X X

"Oh Hyne it's so dark in here," Rinoa held onto Yuffie's arm tightly

"Don't worry, we're almost there,"

"How did you even get a key to this place?"

"I stole it from Cid when he wasn't looking,"

"Yuffie! How could you?!"

"Easy…it's part of a ninja's job,"

Rinoa rolled her eyes glad it was too dark for her friend to see.

"Here we are!" Pulling a sheet away Yuffie revealed a white hover bike…easily built for two "Just looking at it I feel sick,"

The sorceress laughed and climbed onto the bike taking hold of the handles.

"Hey, how come you get to drive it?"

"Because if you throw up we'll fall to our deaths,"

"Good point…all aboard!" Yuffie climbed on the seat behind Rinoa and put her arms around her waist. She giggled, "No wonder there were rumours about us,"

"Believe me…I bet there still are!"

Both girls shared a giggle before the conversation turned heavy.

"Ok Yuffie, this is it. Today's the day we fly or fall…figuratively speaking" she looked down at the bike "…I hope. Who knows if we'll make it out ok, but I'm gonna teach you a trick that we used during time compression…think of a place where your heart lies most,"

"Huh? How does that help?"

"If you think of the place which makes you happiest then your whole body will be overjoyed and you can feel unstoppable,"

"That sounds like something out of a really cheesy movie,"

"Blame Laguna,"

Once again they laughed

"I still don't believe that President Laguna is Squall's dad!" Yuffie smiled

"Yeah, well we'll talked about that later but for now we have to be totally focused…seriously Yuffie, you help me pull this off and I'll buy you all the materia you could ever want!"

"Ok…I'm focused!"

"Good, right…now how do I turn this on?" She searched for any clues "Ah! Here we go…WHOA!"

X X X

"So, if they're not using the hover bikes to find the Queen of Cards then why do they need it?" Vincent was tired of playing the guessing game

"Hell if I know. Why would she do this…she can be so stupid at times!"

"Yuffie or Rinoa?"

"Rinoa!"

"Good! They've always been like this; every time they were together they couldn't stop themselves getting into trouble,"

They arrived at the ship and started to walk up the lowered platform. They stopped half-way catching their breaths.

"Well, they should grow up! This isn't some school girl game this is life or death…Rinoa of all people should know what could happen!"

"Hey! Some people may grow up but they can never change. If you know what someone's like then you shouldn't judge them or yell at them as soon as they do something stupid!"

"Look! We don't need to be arguing right now and to be honest I'm sick of yell-"

"Wait…" Vincent held up his hand "Do you hear that?"

Both men stood silently listening to the strange noise, it came from inside the airship and each second it grew louder and louder.

"It sounds like a…" Squall squinted his eyes closely

"HOVERBIKE!"

Squall was pushed to the ground quickly by Vincent as a large white hover bike came roaring out of the airship, on board a screaming Yuffie and Rinoa.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FLY IT!!" Squall heard Rinoa scream

"THE LEFT BUTTON…I SAID THE LEFT ONE!" Vincent looked up to Yuffie waving one hand frantically in the air

"Yuffie!"

"Rinoa!"

The two men watched helplessly as they watch the two girls fly unstably through the air. Soon they heard Rinoa yell.

"OH THAT BUTTON!"

Without a second warning the bike let out two blasts of fire from the back and shot off into the distance.

Squall yelled angrily and punched the air. Turning around to a gob-smacked Vincent he grabbed his cape and pulled him inside the Shera.

"Tell me how to drive this thing!"

"Why?"

"Are you stupid? We're going after them!"


	11. Chapter 11

"What's going on?" 

Squall and Vincent turned from the bikes to see a large group of people at the entrance of the Shera.

"They've run off to fight the people who attacked Rinoa," Squall was now sitting on a bike shaking the handles viciously trying to start it.

"Who have?" Tifa stepped forward

"Rinoa and Yuffie stole one of the hover bikes and flown off to the attackers hide out, problem is we have no idea where they're headed so we have to follow them now" Vincent seemed to keep perfectly cool about the whole situation.

"Maybe that's not where they're headed, you could be mistaken," Quistis walked over to Squall putting a friendly hand on his shoulder. He pushed it away angrily,

"NO! I know that's exactly where they're going! Now will someone help me or move out of my way!"

"I'll help you,"

Everybody moved aside as Cloud entered the airship.

"I couldn't stop what happened to Aeris, nothing I did could have protected her. You have a chance to save Rinoa and I'm not going to let you lose it," He pulled a sheet off and climbed aboard his motor bike, Fenrir, "We don't know what these guys are capable off, but it doesn't matter. All we need to know is that our friends need help and they need it now,"

Everyone was silent for a few moments before Barrett stepped forward.

"I'm in,"

"Me too," Selphie, Irvine and Zell said in unison.

"You can't forget about me!" Tifa jumped in the air

"I'll run in and tell the headmaster what's going on," Quistis started to walk to the entrance "I'll round up some SeeDs and we'll use Ragnarok to follow you,"

"And what about us?" Red XIII walked into the middle of the group, Cait Sith following behind "We can't exactly drive when we don't have opposable thumbs,"

"That's simple, just let me power up the Shera here," Cid patted the wall of the ship "Barrett, Red and Cait Sith can come with me,"

Everyone nodded.

"Squall," Everybody once again turned to face Cloud "Push the left button and twist the handles towards you to go," In a blink of an eye Cloud shot out of the ship.

Squall turned to Vincent; who in understanding climbed on his own hover bike. Everybody else taking the lead and going into their positions.

"Yo Man this is cool!" Zell plopped himself onto a bike and tightened his gloves.

"Zell, this isn't a game!" Selphie had decided to share a bike with Irvine "I'll tell you what, if you do good and nothing goes wrong I'll give you my voucher for all-you-can-eat hotdogs in the cafeteria,"

"Awww man now I'm hungry!"

"Come on!" they heard Cloud yell from outside "I'll search around town and lower down," they heard his drive away

In unison everybody pushed the left button and twisted the handles flying themselves forward.

SeeDs and Cadets awed in amazement and some cheered. In the sky Vincent, Tifa, Zell, Irvine and Selphie flew together with Squall taking the lead hoping they weren't too late.

X X X

Standing before a dark drippy cave Rinoa and Yuffie held their breath. In the middle of the dark abyss a small light kept twinkling; just like what Rinoa had seen on the balcony a few nights before. Taking each others hand they quietly crept toward the light. Rinoa held up her left arm in case the need to use her Blast Edge arose. Slinging her shuriken over her back Yuffie was amazed that Vincent had missed that small detail.

All that could be heard was the small sound of water dripping and a few distant voices.

"Ok Yuffie you remember the plan?" Rinoa brought her voice to a whisper

"Yup, don't worry,"

"Alright then, come on"

Standing tall they strode into the entrance until it was almost impossible to see. Soon the small flickers of fire lanterns were seen and the voices were more distinguished.

"…now we're back to square one. I bet you know she won't be walking around with less then ten people!" A tall girl, with long red hair paced the caves floor. She was very beautiful and wore a long black dress; almost similar to Ultimecia's.

"I'm pretty sure we could get to her, who knows they could think we're totally clueless about the whole thing and carry on as normal," The second girl wasn't as tall but she was just as pretty. Her hair was blonde and tied up in a high ponytail. Her clothes were of the kimono type and on her neck she wore a blue chocker.

"Karin, you're always so pessimistic. I agree with Honda, we could easily get to Sorceress Rinoa with no problems," A third girl walked into the seating area. She was the tallest and wore an extremely short skirt and a kimono top. She wore thigh high boots and had two strands of hair in a samurai wrap. The rest was loose and shimmered purple.

"Remy, its no point. Desmond mucked it up,"

"You know I didn't mean to, my plan would have worked if I wasn't attacked by that scrawny ninja," A man dressed all in leather appeared. He certainly looked like the boy who attacked Rinoa but he seemed aged and more rugged.

"I'll give him scrawny ninja!" Yuffie hissed through gritted teeth. She was about to leap forward but Rinoa managed to hold her back.

"Yeah, come on ladies, no need to panic. If worst comes to worst we'll go. Us knights will be sure to get the job done," Two other men walked in wearing the same attire as Desmond. Rinoa noticed that each of them had a pendant on but she couldn't make out the symbol. She decided now would be the best time to carry on the plan.

"Yeah, Doyle and Lucas could get the job done!" Honda jumped off of her seat

"Problem is who knows where the Sorceress will be," Remy crossed her arms and walked over to Lucas who put a protective arm around her. Rinoa nudged Yuffie who stood up,

"I'm right here,"

Remy, Honda, Karin, Doyle, Lucas and Desmond all jumped at the sound of the intruder.

"Do you think we're stupid? You're not the Sorceress," Karin walked over slowly

"She is now!" Rinoa stood up and took a place next to Yuffie, "When 'Desmond' killed me I passed my powers onto her,"

"Oh really," Desmond stood behind Karin "Then why are you here? To get revenge?"

"No, we're here to give you my powers,"

"Why?!" Honda seemed a bit confused

"We want you to stop endangering our friends. We just want to be left alone and if that means giving you untold powers then we're going to do it!" Rinoa's heart was beating abnormally fast.

"Looks to me that you've come to your senses," Remy walked forward loosening Lucas's arm. "Very well, but you both know there's only one true way a sorceress can relinquish her powers…EVERYBODY ATTACK!"

Rinoa pushed herself aside as the group of six ran toward Yuffie. Rinoa darted behind them hoping to have time to power herself up. Yuffie leapt from wall to wall dodging every attack they threw upon her. Focusing all of her energy on the attack Rinoa stood still and closed her eyes shut not letting any of the outside noises affect her concentration. She subtly floated into the air and brought out her shimmering wings. Soon when she felt she was ready she threw her arms up wide and shouted,

"HELL'S JUDGEMENT!"

At this point Yuffie back flipped away from the distracted attackers and hid behind a stalactite.

A large explosion shook the ground as the attack hit the edges of the cave, heading for its target.

There was nothing but silence as the dust began to settle and the world was clearer. Rinoa had been thrown against the back wall from the impact and was struggling to keep herself awake. She panicked when there was no sign of Yuffie.

"Yuffie," Her voice was croaky from fatigued and could barely be heard. To her horror when the dust settled the Clan of Attackers had not even a scratch on them. Karin was standing in the middle of them one hand high in the air creating a permanent Shell spell; protecting them from any harm.

Remy stood and walked over to Rinoa; grabbing her by the throat and lifted her from the ground. Doyle and Desmond had grabbed Yuffie who was bleeding from the head but still able to struggle viciously. Karin and Lucas walked over to Remy and stood either side of her pointing a weapon at Rinoa. Honda stood just in front of Yuffie threatening her with a Fira spell floating on her hand.

"Poor little Ninja. Did you really think you could trick us?" She slapped Yuffie with her free hand.

"How…did you know?" Rinoa croaked hoarsely

"Isn't it obvious? We've been watching you for the past few months," Remy kept her grip "It took us a while to track you down but luckily we had an insider at the Sorceress Memorial. They gave us all your files. It's a good thing your beloved Knight came to rescue you otherwise we'd be left powerless. We thought it would be so difficult to get close to you and yet all we needed to do was disguise one of _our _Knights as a student and voila, shows how much your Knight looks after you doesn't it,"

"Rinoa…don't listen to her!" Yuffie was trying to free herself but Doyle had cast a slow spell on her; making her weary.

"If he really wanted to look after you then he would have made sure that no harm came to you. You know, we can hear everything that goes on in that school. And we've been hearing the most truthful rumours,"

"Oh yeah…surprise me!" Rinoa chocked

Remy smiled and brought her lips to Rinoa's ear.

"He's only with you to keep an eye on you like a child. He doesn't love you; it's all a little plan to make sure you don't turn evil,"

Rinoa knew it was a lie but for some reason it didn't make it any less hard to hear.

"I have an idea Sorceress," Remy dropped her and kneeled down to her level "Why don't you join us. Split your power and we can take over this world together. With your connection to Garden we can over throw it and destroy every SeeD that ever walks by! What do you think?"

Rinoa looked at the purple haired girl with pure hatred. She was rubbing her neck when impulse took over and she spat on Remy's cheek.

"Fine if that's how you want to play," Standing up Remy turned away from Rinoa and clicked her fingers.

And with no warning for the Sorceress and Ninja, everything went black.

X X X

"Any clue which way they went?" Irvine yelled to Squall

"I dunno spread out and-" he was cut of by a loud explosion in the cliffs "This way!"

Everybody revved up their bikes and followed Squall toward the noise.

"Irvy I'm scared," Selphie gripped onto the handles tightly

"Don't worry Sefie, I'll look after you"

"If you two love ducks are finished I think you should turn otherwise your about to hit the cliff face!" Zell pointed

Selphie quickly turned the bike away from the face and pressed a button making them faster "Maybe I should have stayed, I'm the best one at flying Ragnarok,"

"Don't worry about it Selph," Zell appeared aside them "You taught Quistis everything she needs to know and she's a really fast learner,"

Selphie nodded and smiled as she felt Irvine hold onto her waist reassuringly. Looking back ahead of her she had to stop abruptly as all those in front had stopped and was hovering in midair.

"Yo Valentine, what's going on?!" Zell continued moving on his bike over to Vincent

"We've lost the trail,"

As if on cue loud whirring noises and engines were heard behind them. Turning their heads they saw the Shera rising off of the grounds of Balamb Fields and floating into the air. From around the back of Garden Ragnarok shot into the sky; its large head producing lights so everyone could see the groves and inlets better.

Leading everyone around the cliff Squall and Vincent stopped quickly as they saw thick patches of dust and smoke floating out of a cave. They nodded in acknowledgment to each other and gestured for everyone to follow.

Arriving at the cave's mouth they saw a small twinkle deep inside.

"Look!" Tifa whispered hastily pointing to Rinoa and Yuffie's hover bike "They were here"

Vincent ran over and picked up a bag.

"That's definitely Yuffie's,"

"Rinoa!" Squall shouted ignoring the angry messages from his friends.

"Irvy look!" Selphie pointed to a large coffin that was leaning off the left side of the cave; the only thing holding it up was a rope which with each second was wearing away; one strand at a time.

"This is freaky guys," Zell commented

"Rinoa!" Squall yelled again this time taking a few steps forward "Rinoa where are you?!"

"Hello…how nice of you to join us," Honda and Karin walked forward stealthily; Remy leading them "I'm afraid Sorceress Rinoa is unavailable at the moment…can I take a message?"

* * *

_A/N: Oooo cliff-hanger! How much do you want to shoot me?  
Helllooooo...BabemRoze here saying howdy! And i feel like i should have also thanked **JeanneAndHerAlters** because she was the first person to fave my story and she gave me a soul consuming muffin...my fave :D As I said in my last notes the reviews don't go in vain. I only read Jeanne's review this morning and i've already updated for her...coz i'm just that nice :P.  
I think there will be about 1-2 more chapters of this story left...depending on how I feel when i write it :P.  
So yeah...its gonna be finished soon! How lucky are you:D :P :D :P  
Well luv ya n leave ya!_


	12. Chapter 12

When Yuffie awoke she couldn't even see the noise in front of her face. She was tied up and had a bandage wrapped around her mouth denying her freedom of voice. She felt herself in a box, she tried to struggle the bandages free but each time she cause the box to shift. From the outside world she heard motors and voices. Using all of her strength she head button the wall in front of her and caused a side of the box to detach.

To her horror she was leaning head first over the cliff-face about a hundred feet in the air. She screamed through the gagged cloth but it was nothing more of a whisper. Hearing footsteps she tried to struggle again but the box, which she now identified as a coffin because of the inner padding, jolted downward and she almost fell out would it not have been for the rope around her feet.

"_Rinoa, where are you?!"_ she recognised the voice immediately as Squall's.

_I may not be Rinoa but I have to do something! I need to let them know I'm here! _She thought

"…_can I take a message?"_

_Remy! That bitch…they need to be warned! _

Using the last of her courage she started to jump up and down inside the coffin; causing it to jolt and crash making as much noise as physically possible. With luck the bandaged around her mouth loosened and soon she could breath and speak with ease. Or so she thought. To her dismay a Silence spell had been cast upon her and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't say a single word or cast any spells. She once again found herself bashing her head against a side of the coffin.

"…_ahhh! The coffin's moving!"_ she head a high, female voice say

_Yes! They've noticed me! Now for my master plan. _

"_Rinoa? Is that you?!" _She heard footsteps and the sound of Squall's clinking boots.

Uncomfortably she cranked her neck toward her left arm and pulled off the red ribbon tied around it. Moving it in her mouth she made sure she only held the end letting the rest wave out of the small entrance she created.

"_Yuffie!"_ The voices were definitely Vincent and Tifa's.

She jumped up and down in the coffin almost choking at the ropes strong grasp but she didn't care as long as she was free. But soon too her horror she'd bounced too much.

X X X

"Rinoa? Is that you?!" Squall ran over to the coffin despite the glares from the purple haired maiden

Everyone stood waiting for a reply and when Squall saw the red ribbon fly out his heart sank.

"Yuffie!" Tifa and Vincent started to run over to the coffin.

It kept jolting up and down and soon to everyone's surprise they heard the sound of a rope snap and Yuffie falling out of the end plummeting down the cliff.

Vincent spared no time at tall as he grabbed the rope holding up the coffin and swing onto it letting it fall. Tifa grabbed the other end using all of her strength to keep it up. Irvine and Zell ran over to help. Remy, Honda or Karin didn't seem the bit concerned whether it was about Yuffie falling or the friends trying to save her. Each one kept their eyes on Squall.

Feeling there gaze in his back he turned around to face them; drawing his gunblade.

"Enough games, tell me where Rinoa is or-"

"Or what?" Karin stepped forward and poked the tip of his sword "You'll stab us with this toothpick?"

Squall snarled under his breath. By now Selphie had climbed aboard a hover bike and followed Vincent to Yuffie's rescue.

X X X

Vincent had never been happier to be wearing gloves. But as he watched Yuffie's doll-like figure fall down the cliff he wouldn't have even cared about rope burn. He was falling at a phenomenal pace and soon he felt Yuffie almost in his grasp. He spread his fingers out and stretched as far as he could go. He even started swinging the rope for a better reach. Lucky for him in no time at all he had grabbed a strand of rope and had come to a halt; Yuffie swinging below him.

But unfortunately for the pair the worst wasn't over. The sudden stop and extra weight had made it too much for the others to hold and to their dismay they let the rope fall through their fingers.

Vincent gripped onto Yuffie tightly and closed his eyes but not scared for his life…he couldn't get killed by a mere fall. But Yuffie wasn't as lucky and could easily be taken from him.

But someone must have been shining on him that day as just as he thought the end was near he felt someone grab him by his cape and looking up he saw Selphie riding a hover bike as if she'd been doing it all her life. He chuckled outwardly for the first time in a while and although he was extremely uncomfortable he waited patiently for the ride to end and once again they were at the entrance of the cave.

Untying Yuffie as quickly as he could he knew there would be no chance of escaping her death grip. But this time he returned it as tightly as he could physically managed without hurting her.

"Yuffie are you ok? Are you hurt?" He now held her by the shoulders looking her directly in the eyes

"……."

"What's wrong? Say something?!"

Yuffie patted her throat gently.

"Oh…Esuna" He held up his hand and stroked her neck softly.

"Yay! My voice! My beautiful voice!" In that moment she found a speck of cheerfulness before she remembered the situation. Helping Vincent off the floor she ran over to Squall's side "Hey Bitches! Now you're done for, prepare for pain!" She looked around for her shuriken before realising it was no where to be seen.

"Looking for this?" Honda swung the spiky weapon in front of her

"ARGH! TELL ME WHERE RINOA IS!" Squall couldn't control it any more and ran toward the three girls. It wasn't what he meant to do as he strongly believed in never harming women (the whole Ultimecia thing aside) but he knew these girls were evil and he knew they had Rinoa.

All three females laughed and in a blink of an eye disappeared. Squall fell forward and landed face forward on the floor. He roared aloud not caring who was around. Picking himself up he gripped his gunblade and ran into the cave; the others following closely behind.

X X X

Rinoa awoke with a start. The sound of a man yelling had intercepted her dreams and had disturbed her from the spell enhanced slumber. She found herself lying against a damp wall. She wasn't tied or gagged but she did have a chain around her wrist stopping her from straying to far.

She tried screaming for help but not a single sound came out. Then she tried casting a spell but once again her efforts came up short. She felt incredibly weak and leaned against the wall with a thump. Glancing down at her wardrobe she was utterly shocked at the fact she was no longer in her 'mission' clothes but now in a long white dress. It had long angelic arms and the neckline went across the top of the breasts. The main dress had a long slit and now she realised she was also wearing different shoes; pure white strapped high heels. She would have congratulated their fashion choices had she not been so caught up on how they had managed to change her…or more like _who_ had managed to change her. Despite everything she prayed to Hyne it was the girls. Looking around she noticed she was alone.

"Yuffie…you there?!" but as she expected it came out as a mime, she stood up and tried to walk away from her chained prison. She needed to get someone's attention even if it was the people she wanted to see least of all.

Rolling her chained hand into a fist she hit it against the wall letting the thick, metal shackle clang against the hard stone. She kept going ignoring her fatigue until she heard a door open. Looking over she saw Desmond enter the room; he had now taken off his coat and wore a woollen vest accompanied by his leather trousers. He smirked as he became nearer. Rinoa took a few steps back until her back was straight against the wall. Desmond stretched his hand forward until his fingertips brushed past her cheek. Rinoa shivered at his cold touch as his hand moved down her face and behind her neck. He pulled her off the wall and moved behind her; his hand now moving to the front of her throat, his spare arm encircled her waist. He sniffed her hair deeply,

"I felt it to be such a shame stabbing such a pretty face," he moved his head down to her neck as he left a train of kisses. Rinoa started to hunch up; she closed her eyes in hopes to transport her inner self somewhere else.

"You should join us you know," he said between his light touch "You would be the greatest Sorceress of all. You're obviously powerful and have mastered your abilities quickly for having them for such a short amount of time,"

"No!" Rinoa screamed, using her unchained hand she instinctively grasped her throat only to be blocked by Desmond's hand.

"I removed the silence spell long ago…it was just your fear that stopped you from speaking,"

"Please leave me alone," She gasped trying to stop herself from crying.

"Now what type of Knight would leave his Sorceress in such an awful state?"

With anger she managed to pull away from him; although still attached from the wall.

"You are not my Knight!" she screamed

"_Rinoa?!" _She heard Squall's voice from outside the room

"Squall, I'm in he-"

She was cut off as Desmond forced his lips upon hers. The shock momentarily made her freeze. Then her blood began to boil. She dug her nails into his bare shoulders and pried him off her. Her nails began to grow longer and longer cut into Desmond's skin causing him to bleed. She pushed him onto the floor as she began to feel her nails grow. She lifted her hands into view and watched as they shifted back into their normal shape.

"Rinoa!" Squall appeared at the entrance of the room

"Squall!" Rinoa started to run toward him; only to be pulled back by the chain around her wrist. She yelped in pain as the metal cut into her skin. Squall ran over and held onto her tightly

"Agh, I'm so mad at you," he said quietly.

Rinoa gripped onto his jacket as hard as she could. Silent tears started trickling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, it thought I could handle it but I…"

"Shhh"

Squall didn't want her to feel like a child talking to her parents. He just stood there holding her before a gruff voice from behind them caused him to react.

"How touching…and me without my hanky," Desmond arose from the floor rubbing his shoulders. Squall turned; drawing his gunblade.

"Rinoa, get back as far as you can," He whispered

She immediately obeyed.

"Who are you?!" He yelled

"How nice of you to remember me, Commander," Desmond then stood up straight and performed a SeeD salute. Then slowly he morphed into the fifteen year old boy Rinoa had been attacked by.

"You!" Squall once again felt his temper rise. He didn't have a chance to kill him the day he hurt Rinoa so he wasn't going to miss this opportunity. Running forward he held his gunblade high in the air. Strangely enough Desmond wasn't prepared and couldn't defend himself as the gunblade sliced through his torso. He hollered in pain and let his guard drop and clung onto his wound. In that moment Squall pulled the trigger repeatedly sending out multiple shots of Pulse Ammo. Each one engorged itself in Desmond's chest causing him to bleed rapidly. Rinoa was too scared to carry on watching she turned to the corner and covered her ears and closed her eyes. She kept hearing shots and battle cries. Her hands were shaking as she pictured the massacre made by her boyfriend. She didn't know how long she stayed there but soon enough she felt a hand rest upon her back. She immediately looked up to see a sweaty faced Commander smiling subtly down at her. He gestured for her chained hand and pulling out a pen knife managed to unpick the lock. As soon as the clasp was free she wrapped her other hand around it a cast a cure spell sealing all of the wounds. Going against her better judgement she peered over Squall's shoulder. She saw Desmond drowned in his own blood and lying motionless on the floor. Sure enough he started to fade away as he made his way to the life stream.

Squall didn't look her in the eye. He knew she hated violence and only used it as a last resort. But in his eyes he deserved to die as painfully possible. Taking her by the hand he lead her out of the room and back to the group; confused as to why there were no more attacks.

"Rinoa you're ok!" Yuffie ran over and leapt on her friend almost knocking her to the ground

"Yuffie, I was so scared! I didn't have a clue where you were!"

"Sorry we're late," Cloud, Barrett, Cid, Red and Cait Sith entered the cave "Turns out it was harder to get here from the Shera then we thought,"

Cid gave a small smile and shrugged. Red paced the ground and then eyed Rinoa up and down.

"Nice dress,"

"Uhhhhh…yeah, thanks," She blushed slightly ignoring Yuffie's '_how-did-you-get-that?_' look.

"Well looks like we're all here," Cloud said leaning against the wall "Except who we're after,"

"Wait, where's Quistis?" there was a hint of concern in Rinoa's voice.

"She's outside on the Ragnarok," Selphie pointed

"No! I'm here," Quistis appeared at the cave entrance; a rope around her waist, "Turns out this hole is too small for the Ragnarok to enter. I had to abseil down,"

"Well, now that we're all here…shall we press on?" Cloud pushed himself off the wall and walked over to everyone "Now or never by my guesses,"

Everyone nodded in agreement…except Rinoa.

"There's something very important we have to do first,"


	13. Chapter 13

"What could be more important then getting these guys?" Zell jumped up from his place on the floor.

"Making sure that no matter how the outcome is their plan won't work," Rinoa placed her hands on her hips.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. She gestured for them to follow. She led them deep inside the cave toward the spot where a giant crystal rested.

"We have to destroy it,"

"What is it?" Tifa tapped it lightly

"I know! It's the Safrin crystal, right Rinny-nee?"

"Safrin? Don't you mean Saffron?" Cid asked the question of everyone's mind

"That's what I first thought but nope it's Safrin…" Rinoa knew she'd have to explain "Its one of the world's rarest gems. It's made out of a Sapphire and another rare gem called Rinia and then they are combined with the petals of a rose and orchid. It symbolises power and purity,"

"Oh yeah, I can see the petals floating in the middle of it!" Selphie pressed her nose against the crystal

Rinoa pulled each of the girls away from the crystal.

"So men, your job is to destroy it,"

"And why can't you girls destroy it?" Barrett crossed his arms

"Fellas, do you know nothing about women?" Irvine stepped forward "Never in a million years do you ever ask them to destroy something big, shiny and could possibly be made into jewellery,"

The girls put on a sheepish look and nodded slowly.

The boys shook their heads in disbelief and all in turn attacked the crystal but nothing they did made a scratch on it.

"It must be protected somehow," Cait Sith said clawing it viciously

"Well then I guess I'll give it a go," Rinoa walked forward and raised her hands putting her thumbs and forefingers together. Producing an orb of energy she was about to release it when suddenly she felt someone push her to the ground.

"It's Karin!"

Rinoa looked up to see the red-headed women in tears and preparing to attack again. Grabbing her balled up fists she managed to push Karin off of her.

"How dare you?!" she screeched letting tears streak down her face.

Everyone stood protectively next to each other.

"How could you?!" Karin sunk to the floor no intention of fighting

Everyone stood in silence not sure of what was going on.

"I loved him so much and you took him away from me!"

"Desmond" Rinoa whispered incoherently, she gripped onto her rings tightly. Maybe she shouldn't have but she felt sorry for Karin. She couldn't bare the thought of losing Squall but maybe the relationship between Karin and Desmond was exactly the same. Just because people may have an evil heart it doesn't mean they can't love anyone else.

"I don't care anymore…" she heard Karin murmur "I JUST DON'T CARE!!"

Then in a matter of seconds Karin lifted her arms and cast a death spell on herself. And for the second time today Rinoa watched as another human returned to the life stream.

"Well…that was…unexpected," Zell said trying to joke

Rinoa stood her mouth wide open.

"Two down…four to go," Everyone turned to see Honda, Doyle, Remy and Lucas in battle stance behind them.

Honda looked teary eyed whereas the other three stood strong. Remy stepped forward and pointed to Rinoa.

"You're mine!"

Then it happened; the beginning of the end…but for whom. Remy ran toward Rinoa a katana high in the air. Its blade shone red and sliced through the air. Squall jumped in front blocking the attack. He was surprised at Remy's strength and found it difficult to keep his position; his shoulders began to buckle.

Honda and Doyle took this as their cue. The blonde cart-wheeled over the group and landed on top of the crystal. Vincent went to attack her but Yuffie stopped him,

"Leave her to me,"

Vincent was hesitant at first but backed away. Yuffie had managed to grab her shuriken when the girls had evaporated. She twisted it in the air like a baton and stood ready for attack. Meanwhile Doyle had started to fight the others in the group.

Zell and Tifa threw their fist towards him but he managed to dodge every punch and they ended up colliding; knocking each other onto the ground.

Quistis managed to wrap her whip around his feet causing him to stumble into Barrett. Picking him up Barrett threw him to the wall; afterward hearing a loud crunch as Doyle's face felt the impact. As he slipped down Red pulled him by his long coat and started to claw his face. The others didn't give him a chance and they encircled him. Vincent, Irvine and Barrett held their guns to his body. Cid held his spear to his throat.

"What are you all waiting for?" Doyle said, breathing heavily "Go on, strike me down,"

They momentarily looked at each unsurely.

"I knew you were all too weak, you can't stand to kill another being. Well, then I guess we'll just kill Rinoa as none of you seem to care,"

That was it, the end of the line. In unexpected unison Vincent, Irvine and Barrett pulled the triggers on their guns and shot the bullets into his chest. Doyle screamed in agony and then Vincent took the last blow and shot him in the head. Nobody stopped to watch him disappear they just turned to observe the remaining fighters. One thing Vincent noticed was that the other man, Lucas was just standing and watching everything around him.

X X X

"HAAAAAA!" Yuffie screamed as she thrust herself onto Honda. She raised her shuriken high and threw it directly at the blonde's neck. But Honda was too quick and managed to grab the shuriken and throw it back in attack. Luckily Yuffie was too advanced with her own weapon and somersaulted forward grabbing it with ease.

"Nice try," She smirked

"You too," Honda giggled

Yuffie raised an eyebrow with confusion and was shocked to see Honda disappear right in front of her and then approach her from behind grabbing her by the neck. However nothing could keep the great ninja down and with accurate ease Yuffie elbowed Honda in the stomach causing her to back away in pain.

"Argh! That's it!" Now it was Honda's turn to become the gymnast as she darted to the wall and bounced herself off it travelling at a phenomenal speed. She pushed Yuffie to the ground and punched her in the face. The ninja ignored any pain she was in and scrunched up her legs and then released them kicking Honda up into the air. Both girls raised to the floor and stood glaring at each other. A loud male yell was heard but Yuffie identified it as a foe. Honda on the other hand panicked and turned away in the direction of the scream; fearing for the worst. Even though it was against her morals Yuffie used this opportunity to leap forward and tumble Honda to the ground. The villain fell with ease and for a split second lost consciousness. Yuffie ran over and grabbed her by the ponytail, her blood was boiled to no end and she needed to release her fury. Picking up her fallen weapon she used a spike to slice Honda's face repeatedly. Each slice made Honda squealed in agony. When Yuffie started to fatigue she decided to end it. She took a few steps back watching Honda try to lift herself up. Then without even thinking twice she closed her eyes and called for help,

"Shiva, I summon you, lend me your power!"

_Certainly _She heard her say.

From out of nowhere Shiva appeared in a large ice diamond. Opening her eyes she cracked the ice and lifted her hands to the sky. Collecting pieces of ice and snow she gathered them into a large sphere and then in a blink of an eye released the powerful orb directly toward Honda.

The blonde screamed until soon she was shattered into a million pieces and then each pieces floated into the sky and disappeared.

Yuffie jumped up and down before falling to her knees exhausted. Vincent, Cid, Tifa, Red, Barrett, Zell, Irvine and Quistis came running over to her. Then each stood watching as the final battles took place.


	14. Chapter 14

Rinoa stood behind Squall watching him struggle to keep Remy away. She started to panic and curse herself for bringing him into it. To her glee Cait Sith had jumped onto the maiden's face causing her to drop her guard and back away. She gripped her nails in the cat's stomach and pulled him off her. Then Selphie appeared behind her and used her Nunchaku to hold her by the neck. But Remy was clever and pushed both her elbows back into Selphie's stomach. The SeeD coughed and lost her breath as she was flung onto the wall. As now just as soon as Squall was about to attack Remy, Rinoa pulled him back.

"Squall, this is my fight, not yours,"

"But-"

"No, please, let me do this,"

Squall looked at her for a while and back at Remy who was waiting patiently for the next attack. He nodded and took a few steps back lowering his gunblade.

Rinoa glared at Remy and didn't stop to wait for anything as she held onto her rings and grew her wings. Then as she landed on the floor once again she stood in her battle stance. Remy smirked evilly and then swinging her katana, flew toward Rinoa. The sorceress lifted both hands up and cast a Protect spell, just like Edea had done to avoid Irvine's sniper attempt. But this one was stronger causing Remy to be flung backward.

"How did you do that?!"

Rinoa tapped her noise in secrecy. It was in that small moment when she noticed Squall was no longer by her side. But she had no chance to look for him and felt a punch in her right shoulder. She turned hastily and gripped Remy's fist and then flung her over her shoulder; lucky for her the lessons she received from Zell were finally paying off.

Now Rinoa floated into the air and started to gather her strength, she knew it was dangerous to try a Hell's judgment or anything as powerful so she went for the next one down.

"Ultima Triple!"

Focusing her powers on Remy she blasted her three times with Ultima causes the cave to shake slightly. But the dark haired woman wasn't going to be defeated so easily. Lifting her katana high she made the shape of a triangle and then with no hesitation released a great blast knocking Rinoa off her feet. Then using her special teleportation magic she landed, standing on top of Rinoa the katana to her throat. The sorceress started to breath heavily. She squinted her eyes shut.

_You can do this. Prove to them you're strong! Fight back, fight back…FIGHT BACK!!!_

Rinoa's eyes pinged open and with all she could muster grabbed the end of the katana. It cut deep into her skin but she couldn't have cared less. Then with strength she didn't know existed inside her she bent the katana into the shape of a hook, so it was no longer useable. Remy backed away in fear. In a ghostly aura Rinoa floated upward so she was standing straight but her feet never touched the floor. She felt herself changing slightly but nothing stopped her. She kept hearing voices in her head telling her to strike. And soon she obeyed. Lifting up her hands she gathered all the energy around her and then in one single word she sealed Remy's fate.

"APOCOLYPSE!"

X X X

As Squall watched Rinoa start to fight Remy his heart beat ferociously in his chest. He wanted to stand beside her; he wanted to fight with her and for her. But he owed this to her, to let her prove what she felt she needed. He kept his hands wrapped around his gunblade as he didn't know what could happen. Then the sound of swords clashing together made him turn away. Behind him he saw Cloud and Lucas battling ferociously. Lucas has a long pole-axe and handled it with ease. Unfortunately for Cloud as he was struck down. Squall knew Cloud wouldn't need his help but somehow his feet started to lead him to the battle ground. He bent down and helped Cloud up.

"Thanks," Cloud said taking his hand

Squall shrugged.

Then together they turned to face Lucas who stood leaning on his pole. When he saw the mercenaries gaze he moved into a battle stance. Squall and Cloud looked at each other and nodded. Then together they ran around either side Lucas and raised their blades high in the air. But as they went to strike he produced a large force-field knocking them aside. Both men shook it off and then it was a clash of the greatest as SeeD and SOILDER fought together as one to defeat a powerful enemy. But to everyone's surprise Cloud was defeated. He was left unconscious and luckily pulled to safety by Tifa and Barrett. Now it was left to Squall and he knew exactly how to do it. Gathering his strength he collected everything he could muster. Then slicing the air he performed a Renzokuken. Slicing Lucas multiple times he then somersaulted backwards and rising his blade into the air he performed a Lionheart Blasting Zone attack. Lucas didn't even stand a chance.

But just when everyone thought it was over, a loud explosion came from the area where Rinoa and Remy were fighting. Everybody ducked. When Squall opened his eyes he couldn't see anything. Smoke had covered the area. The others were coughing and heaving as the dust clotted their throats and nasal passages.

The smoke started to clear but as our heroes looked up their hearts sank and their heads filled with confusion. Looking over to where Rinoa was, they saw Remy disappearing from the floor and Rinoa floating ghostly in the air.

Her eyes started to glow a strange golden colour and strange markings appeared on her face.

"_Yes…that's it…let it all out,"_ she heard the voice in her head say _"Give in to the anger and hatred in your heart…"_

Rinoa had lost all restrained. She couldn't control herself. Each second reminded her of when Ultimecia was inside her. But this time it was different. It wasn't the hatred of the future sorceress she was feeling…it was her own. She dropped her arms and stood in a world of her own. A ghostly aura surrounded her as her hair began to grow and the patterns on her face became vibrant.

"Rinoa…what's wrong…? Rinoa!" Squall ignored Lucas who was now fading away to the life stream and turned all of his attention to his Sorceress.

Despite the difference in her appearance he knew she was still in there. He'd seen this aura before; up on the lunar base. But this time things were different. He was her Knight and he would go to heaven and hell to protect her. Running over to her he didn't give a second thought about his own safety as he grabbed her by the shoulders. In relief this time when he touched her he wasn't flung to the other side of the room. In her eyes he expected to see anger but all he saw was sadness. Tears had gathered and were rolling down her cheeks. He wiped her cheeks and held onto her tightly. But still she was stuck in her spell. Then inside his own head he heard her voice,

_Squall, help me! _

Their friends stood and watched in awe.

"What's happening to her?!" Selphie screamed

"She's not used to using so much magic as a sorceress. It's possible that it took over and is causing her heart to turn," Quistis displayed a theory

"What can we do?"

They continued watching Squall he was clueless, he had no clue what to do and so without even thinking he did the only thing he knew how to.

Moving his face towards her he pulled her close and gently rested his lips upon hers.

In that perfect moment Rinoa let herself free from her trance. As her eyes closed she felt all the evil in her heart melt away. Moving her hands onto Squall's arms she sunk deeper into his kiss. Soon everything disappeared and there she stood; once again as the Rinoa she was before and the Rinoa she'd always be.

**One Week Later**

"Do you have to go so soon?" Rinoa asked as she watched her friend aboard the Shera.

"Yeah…who knows what trouble Midgar's got itself into without us there," Yuffie explained also sad of the departure

"Actually I would've thought without you there they would have got some peace and quiet," Red walked past casually

"Hey!" Yuffie nudged him up the rear with her foot.

Vincent, Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, Cid, Cait Sith and Red stood behind her. Cid walked forward.

"Well, I better start 'er up," He leaned forward and hugged Rinoa "Keep outta trouble," He turned to the others and shook their hands in turn, then went into the Shera.

One by one they each said goodbye until there was only Cloud, Vincent and Yuffie left.

Cloud strode over and turned to Squall.

"Well…sorry for everything,"

Squall shook his head to dismiss his apology "No, I'm sorry, I guess I should learn to let things go," he rubbed the back of his neck.

Rinoa looped her arm through his and smiled up at him.

"We're both sorry," Cloud agreed "But thanks for helping me up there, I think I would have been a gonna if you hadn't…"

"Forget about it. I guess I should be thanking you, _all_ of you…you helped us all so much," Now it was his turn to smile at Rinoa.

"Cloud, Hurry up! We're losing daylight!" they heard Cid yell from the airship

Cloud looked to Rinoa and then back at Squall,

"Look after her," he then shuffled Rinoa's hair and rubbed her head viciously "Take care, Rin,"

Rinoa wasn't letting him get away that easily. She threw her fist forward and punched him in the arm.

"You've definitely got stronger over the years, I think that one might just bruise," Cloud laughed as he walked into the vehicle. Rinoa leaned forward and blew a raspberry.

Then she turned to see Yuffie walking toward her almost in tears. They stood silently for a while until in unison they ran forward and with a large collision hugged each other tightly.

"Come back soon," Rinoa said gripping tighter.

"You can count on it," Yuffie returned the tight grip

"I wove you, Yuffie-Chan,"

"I wove you too, Rinny-Nee,"

To their dismay they released their grip. Both had silent tears streaking down their faces. They giggled softly at the sight of each other.

Vincent walked behind Yuffie.

"See ya soon, Rin," he said with a small smile

"Awww, don't think your getting away with it Vinnie!"

"huh?"

And then in one swift movement Rinoa jumped forward and gave Vincent a hug. She then turned to Yuffie and silently gestured to Squall. Yuffie understood completely and strode casually over to the five SeeDs. She gave Quistis and Selphie a hug and shook Zell and Irvine's hands. Then when she appeared in front of Squall she smiled at him sweetly not saying a single word. Then she stood straight and gave him a SeeD salute. He raised an eyebrow and returned the gesture but then got shocked out of his skin as Yuffie jumped on him giving him a tight hug. He gave her a small pat on the back and set her down on the floor. Then as Yuffie turned around she was bombarded by another death grip from Rinoa.

"Keep in touch," they said together

"JINX!! You owe me a drink!" Yuffie yelled

"Well then remind me for next time," Rinoa smiled

Then with another bunch of teary eyes they separated and Rinoa watched as Yuffie and Vincent walked up the platform. Yuffie turned around and waved frantically,

"IF YOU EVER NEED ANYTHING COUNT ON ME!"

"YOU TOO, WE OWE YOU BIG TIME!" Rinoa yelled back

Yuffie nodded and then dramatically blew a kiss toward Rinoa who returned one just as radically.

Then she watched solemnly as the platform rose and the Shera took flight.

Rinoa, Squall, Zell, Selphie, Irvine and Quistis stood watching as the air ship flew over the mountains and started to get smaller.

"Well, that's the end of our second adventure," Zell commented

"But it wasn't just our adventure now was it," Selphie giggled

"Hmm, two enemies in two years, lets hope it won't turn into a habit," Everyone laughed at Quistis's remark except for Rinoa.

"You okay, Rin?" Irvine asked

"Yeah I guess, just having a Squall moment," she smiled

"Hey!" he said nudging her gently

"What's on your mind?" Quistis gave her a sisterly look

"Karin…she couldn't stand to be in this world without Desmond by her side. So in the end she decided to take her own life. Stuff like that gets to me I guess, starts making you think of what would happen if any of us-"

"Ok, I see where this is going," Squall stood in front of her "let's not think about stuff like that. If anything let's use this experience as a lesson, live the end and regret nothing,"

Everyone stood staring blankly at Squall, there mouths agape.

"What…I can be optimistic sometimes,"

Everybody started laughing. Selphie jumped on the spot and starting running to the entrance of Garden.

"This is gonna be great to put on the BBS!"

"You've made the mistake of putting my secret on there before Selph, if we hadn't of told you to take it off I think I would have a lot more enemies,"

"So I can't put it on?" she said sadly "Super-duper-mega-bummer!"

"You can put it on Selph, but spare the details," Rinoa winked

She jumped up and started to run inside. Irvine laughed and followed her.

"Well, looks like tea time to me," Zell said walking inside "I wonder if there are any hotdogs left,"

Quistis rolled her eyes and started to follow him,

"Well who knows what adventure's we have to come," Squall said as he started to follow, when Rinoa didn't move the others stopped and turned to face her.

"Yeah," She said watching the Shera disappear behind the mountains "But I think we're gonna have a lot of fun finding out,"

**The End**

* * *

_**A/N**: TAADAA! finished!! Didn't take as long as i thought it would've! but i'm glad i've finished it. I most certainly have to thank **JeanneAndHerAlters** and **Iris the Goddess Of Rainbow **for being the first two to fave and review my story. They gave me the motivation to finish. And they also gave me muffins and cookies! now i'm fat :P but it was worth it!_

_I've got two stories in the making but i won't post them until they're finished. These ones i'll do on my own motivation. I have a one shot which is called "Summer with Seifer" although i don't really like the thought of Rinoa and Seifer together i thought it would be good to come up with something that not many people have done before.  
The second one is a Kingdom Hearts fanfic...although it hasn't got a name yet :D _

_So keep your eyes peeled and let me know what you think of this story!  
Luvs ya  
BabemRoze  
-x-_

_p.s. Btw did anyone notice the cruel irony between chpts 5 and 7...let me know...there's a bag full of cookies and cakes for the first person who tells me what is it :) ooo i'm good:P  
oh yeah if you want to know how i picture Rinoa in her evil sorceress mode go to onto my DeviantArt (I'm still under the same user name) its called "Evil Sorceress Rinoa Heartilly"...despite what she's wearing. I just randomly put anything on her..._**  
**


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